Titanoboa The Titanoboa is the largest snake discovery. This discovery was accidental and is classified as a weird discovery. Let’s dive into the past. How long has it been since it ruled land making animals quake with fear?Where was this monstrous reptile found? What was Titanoboa? Where was it found: All 28 skeletons were found in the Cerrejon Coal mine in Northern Colombia which used to be a tropical rainforest. The average temperature had to be 86 to 93 degrees fahrenheit for the titanoboa to survive. Today though, the average temperature is 83 degrees fahrenheit. Today’s ecosystems are remarkably different than 60 million years ago, the world had bigger animals and hotter temperatures which played a part in the bigger animals. The rainforest where it ruled which is now a coal mine, seemed to …show more content…
Though they weren’t poisonous they were deadly for another reason. They could swallow us whole, bones and all. As we take into consideration that snake vertebrae get larger near their midsection, the Titanoboa could have been larger than we imagined which is a scary thought(NSF Prehistoric fossil is largest on record pg2 -3). How our discovery has changed our understanding: The discovery has proved that 60 million years ago earth was hotter and different. This also lead to the discoveries of other animals. It has broadened our understanding of earth’s animal history and biological limitations on snakes. Though that made it come up that the tropical rainforest had signs of greenhouse conditions. Thus changing our understanding of tropical rainforest temperatures (smithsonian institution pg 2). What it looked like: The Titanoboa made today’s Anacondas seem like Garter snakes. They had typical snake colors we find today. They were 40 to 50 feet in length.There are some life sized models that look so realistic that it could send some running for the hills(NSF pg 1).
In this paper Martin is arguing that late quaternary or near time extinctions where caused by human activity or as he calls it “overkill”. Martin recognizes that there have been many forces that have triggered extinctions in the planet on the past but disagrees with the idea that near time extinctions where caused by some commonly believed causes like climate change, disease or nutrient shortage. He argues that the arrival of humans to different continents, islands and the subsequent excessive hunting, the introduction of diseases and other competitors and predators was the cause of extinction of a great number of species “As our species spread to various continents we wiped out their large
Rapidly evolving throughout the late Pleistocene to the early to mid Holocene, hunter-gatherer-fisher societies hunted megafauna creatures in a systematic and ethical way. When one species migrates to a different ecosystem, that species is not usually recognized as a threat to other species. Survival, during the late Pleistocene and Holocene era, was one of the most important aspects to life. Any organism, regardless of size, living within their environment had to stay alive and reproduce. During these two eras, it seems...
2[2] Chiappe, L., Coria, A., and Dingus, L., 2002. “Ground breakers of Patagonia: paleontologists rarely have the chance to document dinosaur behavior. In Argentina, the authors found rock-solid evidence of a sauropod’s private life.”
Dinosaur fossils are one of the few ways in which scientists can study the history of life on earth millions of years ago. Each new discovery is unique in its own way and provides valuable information about the past. No two finds are exactly identical; therefore, when dinosaur remains are uncovered, the possibility and excitement of new information or even a new species exists. Until the year 2000, no dinosaur has ever been found with a fossilized heart. Scientists at North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences discovered a sixty-six million year old Thescelosaurus with a heart.
Throughout several myths, monsters are described as many diverse creatures. At first glance, they all seem very distinctive. However, each monster is like a combination of several qualities and characteristics that are matched in different ways to form the monsters that appear in myths such as Hercules, Bellerophon, and Perseus. All monsters have very distinct looks that make them inferior to humans. Generally, they are a mixture of two or more different animals such as snakes, lions, or humans and they may have multiple heads. For example, Cerberus was a horrific three-headed dog that had the tail of a dragon and his back was covered with snakes. Several monsters have some part of them from a snake. Snakes symbolize an evil quality and that is why many monsters are forms of them. Cerberus had his whole back covered in snakes and a dragon tail. Both of these are snake-like parts that contribute to Cerberus looking terrifying. His tail is from a dragon which is very similar to a snake and his back is filled with snakes like fur. The Hydra of Lerna is also an im...
The slave witch from South America. Tituba of Salem and her family were brought from Barbados to the United States. Tituba was captured at a young age and bought by Samuel Perris which later was brought to Boston Massachusetts in the late 1600’s. She became a servant for Samuel Perris and his family. “In November of 1689, Samuel Parris moved Tituba and his family to Salem after he was appointed the new minister of Salem Village” (Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, Tituba The Witch of Salem). People used to confuse Tituba with half Indian American and African, but the truth is that her race was unknown. No one knew where was she original from since she was captured and brought to Barbados then moved to Boston when she was later sold as a slave.
...iod. The glacier formation led to the enormous decrease of the sea level which dried out the swamps. Swamps form because of the water level was high and flooded the forest so the low sea level really affected the huge swamps areas of the Carboniferous period. The climate changed from hot and humid to cool. The plants couldn’t adapt to this change so most of the ones that flourished during the time period died off but it led to new plants forming. Most of the amphibians that were prosperous during this time also couldn’t adapt to the environmental climate change so most died off. The insects also couldn’t live through the change. The reptiles however made it through the climate change. They were able to adapt unlike all the other species they lived with during the carboniferous period. These environment changes eventually led to a new time period, the Permian Period.
but how could two ecosystems separated by millions of years be expected to coexist. We
This breaking up of the mega continent of Pangaea allowed for more diversification of plant species and as the continents continued to break apart, plant life became even more diversified. As the continents shifted and moved from one area of the ocean to another the climates began to change drastically which allowed for plant and dinosaur species both to begin adapting to suit their new ecosystems. All the water that was produced by the split of Pangaea gave the previously hot and dry climate a more humid and drippy subtropical weather. Dry deserts took on a greener look. Before the Mesozoic Era, livings things were confined to only surviving in the oceans. It was not until the Jurassic Period that livings things evolved the capability of living on the land rather than just the ocean. Towards the beginning of the Jurassic, plant life evolved from Bryophytes, the low-growin...
Throughout Earth’s history there have been many changes. These changes have consisted of temperature fluctuations, atmospheric differentiations, extinctions of various plant and animal life, etc. Over time everything seems to have evolved in some way form or fashion. However, the Permian Era extinction was different from all the rest. This extinction affected every form of life, but especially the marine life. Researchers have stated that 93-97% of all Earths species went extinct during this period of time. This essay will explain how a once blossoming progressive era turned into Earths most catastrophic event.
Deinonychus is an extinct dinosaur that belonged to the genus Carnivorous dromaeosaurid coelurosaurian dinosaurs and lived in the early Cretaceous Period which is approximately 115-108 million years ago. The fossil remains of the species Deinonychus antirrhopus were discovered in the US states of Utah, Oklahoma, Montana, and Wyoming. The word Deinonychus has a Greek background suggesting the words “terrible” and “claws.” Their claws were large and formed a sickle shape on the second toe of the rear feet. The species name, antirrhopus, simply means “to counterbalance” thus suggesting the Deinonychus’ long tail which had rigid tendons and bones that supported and balanced the whole body. Paleontologist John Ostrom is credited for researching and writing about the Deinonychus in details.
Several mass extinctions have occurred during the Earth’s history. The Cretaceous – Tertiary Boundary (K-T) Extinction caused the loss of at least three-quarters of all species known at that time including the dinosaurs. The cause of this mass extinction is a controversial subject among scientists but the fossil evidence of it’s occurrence is abundant.
The Tyrannosaurus Rex was a very smart and interesting dinosaur and it is unfortunate that we will never be able to see one. The extinction of dinosaurs was brought on by the Alvarez Theory. It is great to know what actually happened to them now, and also know how to prevent such an occurrence from happening again. If our country uses the technology it has available it will be possible to find out more about the mass extinction of the Crustaceous Period. As the years pass technology becomes more advanced and we will eventually know everything there is to know about what happened sixty five million years ago.
...nnot keep up with the mass destruction of forests. In addition, the tremendous amount of grain used to feed the animals could be transported to undeveloped countries for food supply.
Because the CO2 levels are rising, the ice caps are melting and many more animals can become extinct. When pangea started splitting, there was a lot of volcanic activity, which cause the death of many dinosaurs. A meteor also hit earth and the mass extinction of many land and marine animals happened. There have been five mass extinctions in Earth’s history. The worst one wiped out ninety-six percent of marine life and seventy percent of land organisms. This took millions of years to recover.