Background Information

The study of the interaction of an organism with its environment is defined as ecology. Energy transfers within the environment are constant and predictable. One way an animal participates in this energy transfer is by eating.

The diet of modern animals is easy to characterize. Through observation - in their natural habitat - we can directly determine what they eat. We can also indirectly determine it by examining what they leave behind - their feces.

Paleoecology is the ecology of ancient organisms - such as dinosaurs - and includes determining just what and how they ate. Imagine just how much food some dinosaurs must have eaten! How can a paleontologist tell the type of food differening dinosaurs ate?


Objectives

  1. Form a hypothesis that contrasts the skeletal characteristics of a herbivore and a carnivore.
  2. What kind of evidence might you use to determine what type of diets dinosaurs ate?
  3. What are the diets of different animals today? Think about the characteristics of these different animals.
  4. Did most herbivores share the same characteristics? How about the carnivores?

Guide Questions

  • Find a resource that describes characteristics of meat-eating and plant-eating dinosaurs
  • Complete the data table, including all information that you think is important
  • What part of a dinosaur skeleton is most important in determining its diet? Why? What is the likelihood that this part of a skeleton will be preserved?
  • What are some other characteristics associated with dinosaur skeletons that help paleontologists determine what their diets were like?
  • Which were more abundant, meat-eating dinosaurs or plant-eating dinosaurs? Why?
  • How did sauropods share food resources? Describe the evidence used by paleontologists to determine how sauropods shared food resources.
  • How could the same evidence that is used to determine the diets of dinosaurs be used for other animals?

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