Exhibit Resource Travel back to the Mesozoic Era and introduce your students to the most remarkable marine reptiles that once dominated the seas. Students will learn about these incredible sea monsters, come face-to-face with the mightiest marine reptile of the Jurassic seas and meet living creatures that have inhabited planet Earth for millions of years. Exhibit highlights include: Life-sized replicas of the most amazing species that ever lived, including 42-foot Elasmosaurus, 20-foot Kronosaurus, 21-foot Zygorhiza, 16-foot Dunkleosteus and 34-foot Liopleurodon. Interactive and educational stations where your students can explore a variety of prehistoric and living marine species, compare replicas of the largest sea turtles that ever lived and become an amateur paleontologist in a fossil research quarry. New live aquarium residents — the beautifully intricate chambered nautilus, the mysterious giant isopod, and the large and leggy Japanese spider crab. The Exhibit Resource includes: Mass Extinction and Moving Continents (Page 2) How Fossils Form and Make A Fossil Activity (Page 3) Animal Fossils Matching Game (Page 4): Answer Key Liopleurodon B Shark E Nautilus D Octopus A Sea Turtle C Tyrannosuarus F Dinosaur vs. Marine Reptile (Page 5) The First Invertebrates and Prehistoric Fish Scavenger Hunt (Page 6) Ancient Aquatic Animal Scavenger Hunt (Page 7) Answer Key Sea Anemone Cambrian Period Horseshoe Crab Devonian Period Shark Devonian Period Crocodile Triassic Period Sea Turtle Triassic Period Frog Triassic Period Penguin Paleocene Epoch Hippopotamus Miocene Epoch Orthoceros Ordovician Period Geologic Time Chart (Page 8) Web Resources http://www.adventureaquarium.com/What-to-do/Dinosaurs-of-the-Deep.aspx http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/ http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.php http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/aquaticdinosaurs/ 1 Moving Continents Over millions of years, Earth’s land masses have drifted slowly around the globe. Triassic Period Jurassic Period Cretaceous Period Earth Today All of the world’s land was part Pangea split into northern Shallow seas came and went, Today the continents are still of a great continent called Laurasia and southern dividing the continents into moving. Millions of years Pangea. The first dinosaurs Gondwana. their present form. from now the Earth will be appeared during this period. unrecognizable again. Mass Extinction Over 90% of all species that have ever lived on Earth are extinct. As they disappear, new ones evolve to take their place. Several extinction events have taken place in the past, each wiping out many species. The cause of each is a mystery but prime culprits seem to be extreme volcanic eruptions and impacts of massive objects from space, resulting in global climate change. *mya = millions of years ago The Five Largest Mass Extinctions: Ordovician-Silurian extinction 443 mya / 85% marine life lost. Late Devonian extinction 359 mya / 70% of marine species were lost Permian-Triassic extinction 248 mya / 96% of all species were lost. End Triassic extinction 200 mya / 52% animal species were lost. Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction 65 mya / 75% species lost including the dinosaurs. Is a mass extinction happening now? Scientists suggest that we are in the middle of a mass extinction event, the fastest in Earth's history. In 500 years, at least 322 types of animals have disappeared and over 20,000 species are now threatened with extinction. Humans will need to take responsibility— by the year 2100, human activities such as pollution, land clearing, and overfishing may have driven more than half of the world's marine and land species to extinction. Conservation is the key! To learn more, visit these websites: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/extinction_events http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/show/3413789/mass-extinction-life-at-the-brink 2 How Fossils Form Fossils are the remains or an impression of an animal or plant that existed in the past. Fossilization depends on a series of chances: Step 1. Step 2. An animal dies and its body is The river floods and covers washed by a flood onto a river the bones in mud and other bank. Its flesh, guts and other soft sediment. This happens many parts are eaten by scavengers or times, burying the bones rotted away, leaving only bones. deeper. Step 3. Step 4. Minerals from the sediment seep Over millions of years, the into the bones, slowly replacing the forces of nature gradually bone and turning it to stone. wear away the upper Pressure increases within the many layers until the fossilized layers of sediment turning it into animal bones are finally solid rock. exposed. Make A Fossil Activity Directions: Stir together the coffee grounds, cold coffee, flour, and salt until well mixed. Knead the dough together and then flatten it out onto the waxed paper. Use the can or cup to cut out circles of the dough. Materials: Press an object firmly into the dough. When you take the object out, you 1 cup of used coffee grounds have an impression of your object. 1/2 cup of cold coffee Let your “fossil” dry overnight. 1 cup of flour 1/2 cup of salt Wax paper Celebrate the 5th Annual National Fossil Day Mixing bowl Small objects to make impressions in the dough October 14, 2015 Empty can or cup http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/nationalfossilday/index.cfm (diameter larger than your objects ) 3 Animal Fossils What we know about animals in the past is mostly based on the fossils they leave behind. At Adventure Aquarium, you will find the animals below, either modern versions in one of our live animal exhibits or models/skeletons/images in the Dinosaurs of the Deep exhibit. Match the animals with the picture of their fossil. Seeing a photo or drawing of the animal can also help you figure it out. Learning more about each animal will help you understand the kind of fossil they would leave behind. A B Liopleurodon Fossil ______ D C Shark Fossil ______ Nautilus Fossil ______ Octopus Fossil ______ E Sea Turtle Fossil ______ F Tyrannosaurus Fossil ______ 4 What is a Dinosaur? Dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates of the Mesozoic Era. Unlike other reptiles, whose limbs splay out beneath them, dinosaurs walked either on 4 legs with their legs directly beneath their body or upright on 2 legs (like modern birds). Scientists are still debating whether dinosaurs were cold-blooded or warm-blooded. And dinosaurs were thought to be strictly terrestrial, but recent discoveries suggest that the largest-known carnivorous dinosaur, Spinosaurus, may also be the first-known swimming dinosaur! Chindesaurus Triceratops What is a Marine Reptile? Marine reptiles are reptiles which have become adapted for an aquatic or semi-aquatic life in the ocean. During the Mesozoic Era, while dinosaurs were dominating the land, several groups of reptiles became adapted to life in the seas, including turtles and crocodiles. Three reptile groups became top predators: Ichthyosaurs, Plesiosaurs and Mosasaurs. Ichthyosaur Mosasaur Plesiosaur Archelon Dakosaurus (Prehistoric (Prehistoric Sea Turtle) Crocodile) Liopleurodon Liopleurodon was a 34-foot long short-necked plesiosaur, with a massive head, big mouth and thick body making it perfectly adapted to attack and kill. “Lio” was the apex predator of the Jurassic seas. It could produce sudden bursts of speed when hunting, then use its powerful jaw muscles to drive 4 inch teeth into its prey. The extinction of the dinosaurs and large marine reptiles at the end of the Mesozoic Era favored the rise of other animal species. On the land, mammals would diversify and flourish, while sharks would become the apex predator of the seas. 5 The First Vertebrates Between 500 and 400 million years ago (mya), life on earth was dominated by prehistoric fish. The Devonian Period (419—359 mya) is often referred to as the “Age of Fishes” because major groups of fish evolved during this time, including sharks. Prehistoric fish established the template for later vertebrate evolution. For a quick lesson on vertebrate evolution watch this episode of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos on evolution. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZpsVSVRsZk Here is a scavenger hunt for you to try when you visit Dinosaurs of the Deep. Older students: See if you can find modern fish with similar shapes and features. 6 Ancient Aquatic Animal Scavenger Hunt Many of the animal species found in Adventure Aquarium first evolved millions of years ago and are still around today. Look for these animals as you walk around the aquarium. When you find one, place a check in the box next to the picture. After each animal’s name is when they first appeared millions of years ago (“mya”). Sea Anemone 520 mya Horseshoe Crab 400 mya Shark 360 mya These flower-like animals are You can touch this ancient This apex predator can be found with clown fish. invertebrate during your visit. found in several locations. Time period __________________ Time period __________________ Time period __________________ Crocodile 225 mya Sea Turtle 220 mya Frog 200 mya She spends her day resting in This giant swims with the zebra Hop up to Kid Zone to find this the Orinoco River exhibit. and hammerhead sharks. little guy and his frog friends. Time period __________________ Time period __________________ Time period __________________ BONUS: This one is a little tricky. Find the fossil of this extinct ancestor of the octopus and nautilus. Penguin 60 mya Hippopotamus 15 mya You will need to step She’s easy to find—just head outside to visit this bird. for Hippo Haven. Time period __________________ Time period __________________ Orthoceros 450 mya Look for these fossilized shells in the floor of the Rotunda. OLDER STUDENTS: Use the Geological Time Chart to Time period __________________ determine which time period each animal first appeared.