- physical structures, characteristics or behaviors that allow an organism to survive and reproduce in its particular environment
amber
- tree sap which has hardened into rock
ancient
- very old
Argentina
- a country in South America
asteroid
- space rocks that orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter
atmosphere
- the blanket of air around the earth
B
biped
- a word that means walking on two feet
bird-hipped dinosaurs
- see Ornithischia dinosaurs
bison
- an ox-like mammal, incorrectly called a buffalo
blue whale
- a baleen whale with blue skin, largest mammal ever known
bogs
- wet, spongy ground of decayed plants
C
carnivore
- an organism that feeds on the flesh of other animals
climate
- the historical record of average weather conditions in a certain place or certain season. weather may change from day to day, but climate changes only over hundreds or thousands of years
continental drift
- movement of continents resulting from the motion of earth's plates
Cretaceous
- the last and final period of the Mesozoic era
D
dinosaur
- the English version of dinosauria
dinosauria
- " fearfully great lizard", from the Greek, deinos - "fearfully great" and sauros - "lizard."
disease
- illness or sickness
drought
- a period of prolonged dry weather leading to a shortage of water
E
embedded
- buried or stuck in another object such as a rock
erodes
- to wear away
erosion
- the act of wearing away as in rocks by the wind or water
exposing
- to uncover
extinct
- when none of a species exist anymore, they are said to be extinct
extinction
- the complete disappearance of a type of organism
F
footprint
- mark left by a foot in mud, soil or sand
fossil
- remain, impression, or trace of an ancient animal or plant that has been preserved in earth's crust and is older than about 10,000 years
H
Hagerman horse
- a small horse-like mammal from the Pliocene era
herbivore
- an animal that eats plants
herding
- moving together as a group which may be a means of protection
I
impressions
- a mark produced on a surface by pressure
investigate
- to look at something closely in order to learn about it
J
Jurassic
- the middle time period of the Mesozoic era
L
lizard-hipped dinosaur
- see Saurischia (lizard-hipped) dinosaur
M
Madagascar
- an island off the Southeast coast of Africa
mammoths
- a elephant- like prehistoric mammal
Mesozoic
- the middle period of earth's history, 248-65 million years ago - the era of earth's history dominated by the dinosaurs
mummified
- to dry or shrivel up to preserve
O
Ornithischia
- also known as bird hipped dinosaur where the hips closely match that of a bird
ostrich
- a large flightless bird capable of running at high speeds
P
paleontologist
- a person that studies fossils
paleontology
- the study of ancient life
Pliocene
- a period of time approximately 10 to 2 million years ago
prehistory
- before history was recorded
Q
quadruped
- an animal that walks on four feet
quicksand
- soft or loose sand saturated with water which can suck objects under its surface
R
reptile
- cold-blooded animals with backbones
S
Saurischia
- also known as lizard hipped dinosaur where the hips closely match that of a lizard
sediments
- material that settles to the bottom of a liquid, often sand or soil, ground rock
species
- a group of creatures related in some way
supernova
- the explosion of a star
T
tar pit
- a puddle of natural tar
temperature
- the measure of molecular motion or the degree of heat of a substance
theories
- ideas about how something might have taken place
Triassic
- the first (earliest) period of the Mesozoic era
U
unearthed
- to remove dirt, soil and rocks in order to uncover something
