1.
Genus
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A genus is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms in biology. In the hierarchy of classification, genus comes above species. In binomial nomenclature, the name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. Felis catus and Felis silvestris are two species within the genus Felis, Felis is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by a taxonomist, the standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. Moreover, genera should be composed of units of the same kind as other genera. The term comes from the Latin genus, a noun form cognate with gignere, linnaeus popularized its use in his 1753 Species Plantarum, but the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort is considered the founder of the modern concept of genera. The scientific name of a genus may be called the name or generic epithet. It plays a role in binomial nomenclature, the system of naming organisms. The rules for the names of organisms are laid down in the Nomenclature Codes. The standard way of scientifically describing species and other lower-ranked taxa is by binomial nomenclature, the generic name forms its first half. For example, the gray wolfs binomial name is Canis lupus, with Canis being the name shared by the wolfs close relatives. The specific name is written in lower-case and may be followed by names in zoology or a variety of infraspecific names in botany. Especially with these names, when the generic name is known from context. Because animals are typically only grouped within subspecies, it is written as a trinomen with a third name. Dog breeds, meanwhile, are not scientifically distinguished, there are several divisions of plant species and therefore their infraspecific names generally include contractions explaining the relation. For example, the genus Hibiscus includes hundreds of other species apart from the Rose of Sharon or common garden hibiscus, Rose of Sharon doesnt have subspecies but has cultivars that carry desired traits, such as the bright white H. syriaca Diana. Hawaiian hibiscus, meanwhile, includes several separate species, since not all botanists agree on the divisions or names between species, it is common to specify the source of the name using author abbreviations
2.
Fossil
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Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals, plants, and other organisms from the remote past. The totality of fossils, both discovered and undiscovered, and their placement in fossiliferous rock formations and sedimentary layers is known as the fossil record. The study of fossils across geological time, how they were formed, such a preserved specimen is called a fossil if it is older than some minimum age, most often the arbitrary date of 10,000 years. The observation that fossils were associated with certain rock strata led early geologists to recognize a geological timescale in the 19th century. The development of dating techniques in the early 20th century allowed geologists to determine the numerical or absolute age of the various strata. Like extant organisms, fossils vary in size from microscopic, even single bacterial cells one micrometer in diameter, to gigantic, such as dinosaurs, Fossils may also consist of the marks left behind by the organism while it was alive, such as animal tracks or feces. These types of fossil are called trace fossils, as opposed to body fossils, finally, past life leaves some markers that cannot be seen but can be detected in the form of biochemical signals, these are known as chemofossils or biosignatures. The process of fossilization varies according to type and external conditions. Permineralization is a process of fossilization that occurs when an organism is buried, the empty spaces within an organism become filled with mineral-rich groundwater. Minerals precipitate from the groundwater, occupying the empty spaces and this process can occur in very small spaces, such as within the cell wall of a plant cell. Small scale permineralization can produce very detailed fossils, for permineralization to occur, the organism must become covered by sediment soon after death or soon after the initial decay process. The degree to which the remains are decayed when covered determines the later details of the fossil, some fossils consist only of skeletal remains or teeth, other fossils contain traces of skin, feathers or even soft tissues. This is a form of diagenesis, in some cases the original remains of the organism completely dissolve or are otherwise destroyed. The remaining organism-shaped hole in the rock is called an external mold, if this hole is later filled with other minerals, it is a cast. An endocast or internal mold is formed when sediments or minerals fill the cavity of an organism. This is a form of cast and mold formation. If the chemistry is right, the organism can act as a nucleus for the precipitation of minerals such as siderite, if this happens rapidly before significant decay to the organic tissue, very fine three-dimensional morphological detail can be preserved. Nodules from the Carboniferous Mazon Creek fossil beds of Illinois, USA, are among the best documented examples of such mineralization, replacement occurs when the shell, bone or other tissue is replaced with another mineral
3.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
4.
National Geographic
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National Geographic is the official magazine of the National Geographic Society. It has been published continuously since its first issue in 1888 and it primarily contains articles about science, geography, history, and world culture. The magazine is known for its thick square-bound glossy format with a rectangular border. The magazine is published monthly, and additional map supplements are also included with subscriptions and it is available in a traditional printed edition and through an interactive online edition. On occasion, special editions of the magazine are issued and this includes a US circulation of 3.5 million. From the 1970s through about 2010 the magazine was printed in Corinth, Mississippi, the current Editor-in-Chief of the National Geographic Magazine is Susan Goldberg. Goldberg is also Editorial Director for National Geographic Partners, overseeing the print and she is responsible for News, Books, National Geographic Traveler magazine, National Geographic History magazine, Maps, and all digital content with the exception of National Geographic Kids. Goldberg reports to Declan Moore, CEO of National Geographic Partners, the first issue of National Geographic Magazine was published on September 22,1888, nine months after the Society was founded. The June 1985 cover portrait of the presumed to be 12-year-old Afghan girl Sharbat Gula, shot by photographer Steve McCurry, in the late 1990s, the magazine began publishing The Complete National Geographic, a digital compilation of all the past issues of the magazine. It was then sued over copyright of the magazine as a work in Greenberg v. National Geographic and other cases. The magazine eventually prevailed in the dispute, and in July 2009 it resumed publishing a compilation containing all issues through December 2008. The compilation was updated to make more recent issues available. National Geographic Kids, the version of the magazine, was launched in 1975 under the name National Geographic World. The January 2017 issue of National Geographic has a nine-year-old transgender girl on the cover, the magazine printed articles on Berlin, de-occupied Austria, the Soviet Union, and Communist China that deliberately downplayed politics to focus on culture. In its coverage of the Space Race, National Geographic focused on the scientific achievement while largely avoiding reference to the connection to nuclear arms buildup. There were also articles in the 1930s, 40s and 50s about the individual states and their resources. Many of these articles were written by longtime staff such as Frederick Simpich, there were also articles about biology and science topics. In later years articles became outspoken on issues such as issues, deforestation, chemical pollution, global warming
5.
Transitional fossil
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A transitional fossil is any fossilized remains of a life form that exhibits traits common to both an ancestral group and its derived descendant group. This is especially important where the descendant group is sharply differentiated by gross anatomy and these fossils serve as a reminder that taxonomic divisions are human constructs that have been imposed in hindsight on a continuum of variation. Because of the incompleteness of the record, there is usually no way to know exactly how close a transitional fossil is to the point of divergence. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that transitional fossils are direct ancestors of more recent groups, in 1859, when Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species was first published, the fossil record was poorly known. Indeed, Archaeopteryx was discovered just two later, in 1861, and represents a classic transitional form between dinosaurs and birds. Many more transitional fossils have been discovered since then, and there is now abundant evidence of how all classes of vertebrates are related, specific examples include humans and other primates, tetrapods and fish, and birds and dinosaurs. The term missing link has been used extensively in popular writings on evolution to refer to a perceived gap in the hominid evolutionary record. It is most commonly used to refer to any new transitional fossil finds, scientists, however, do not use the term, as it refers to a pre-evolutionary view of nature. Transitional forms are seen as falling between the groups in terms of anatomy, having a mixture of characteristics from inside and outside the newly branched clade. With the establishment of cladistics in the 1990s, relationships commonly came to be expressed in cladograms that illustrate the branching of the lineages in stick-like figures. The different so-called natural or monophyletic groups form nested units, while in traditional classification tetrapods and fish are seen as two different groups, phylogenetically tetrapods are considered a branch of fish. Thus, with there is no longer a transition between established groups, and the term transitional fossils is a misnomer. Differentiation occurs within groups, represented as branches in the cladogram, such early representatives of a group are usually termed basal taxa or sister taxa, depending on whether the fossil organism belongs to the daughter clade or not. A source of confusion is the notion that a transitional form between two different taxonomic groups must be an ancestor of one or both groups. The difficulty is exacerbated by the fact one of the goals of evolutionary taxonomy is to identify taxa that were ancestors of other taxa. However, it is almost impossible to be sure that any form represented in the record is a direct ancestor of any other. Archaeopteryx is a genus of theropod dinosaur closely related to the birds, similar in shape to a European magpie, with the largest individuals possibly attaining the size of a raven, Archaeopteryx could grow to about 0.5 metres in length. Despite its small size, broad wings, and inferred ability to fly or glide and these features make Archaeopteryx a clear candidate for a transitional fossil between dinosaurs and birds, making it important in the study both of dinosaurs and of the origin of birds
6.
Bird
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Birds, a subgroup of Reptiles, are the last living examples of Dinosaurs. Birds live worldwide and range in size from the 5 cm bee hummingbird to the 2.75 m ostrich. They rank as the class of tetrapods with the most living species, at ten thousand. Birds are the closest living relatives of crocodilians, the fossil record indicates that birds evolved from feathered ancestors within the theropod group of saurischian dinosaurs. True birds first appeared during the Cretaceous period, around 100 million years ago, Birds, especially those in the southern continents, survived this event and then migrated to other parts of the world while diversifying during periods of global cooling. Primitive bird-like dinosaurs that lie outside class Aves proper, in the broader group Avialae, have been found dating back to the mid-Jurassic period, around 170 million years ago. Birds have wings which are more or less developed depending on the species, the digestive and respiratory systems of birds are also uniquely adapted for flight. Some bird species of aquatic environments, particularly seabirds and some waterbirds, have evolved for swimming. Many species annually migrate great distances, Birds are social, communicating with visual signals, calls, and bird songs, and participating in such social behaviours as cooperative breeding and hunting, flocking, and mobbing of predators. The vast majority of species are socially monogamous, usually for one breeding season at a time, sometimes for years. Other species have breeding systems that are polygynous or, rarely, Birds produce offspring by laying eggs which are fertilised through sexual reproduction. They are usually laid in a nest and incubated by the parents, most birds have an extended period of parental care after hatching. Some birds, such as hens, lay eggs even when not fertilised, songbirds, parrots, and other species are popular as pets. Guano is harvested for use as a fertiliser, Birds prominently figure throughout human culture. About 120–130 species have become extinct due to human activity since the 17th century, human activity threatens about 1,200 bird species with extinction, though efforts are underway to protect them. Recreational birdwatching is an important part of the ecotourism industry, the first classification of birds was developed by Francis Willughby and John Ray in their 1676 volume Ornithologiae. Carl Linnaeus modified that work in 1758 to devise the taxonomic classification system currently in use, Birds are categorised as the biological class Aves in Linnaean taxonomy. Phylogenetic taxonomy places Aves in the dinosaur clade Theropoda, Aves and a sister group, the clade Crocodilia, contain the only living representatives of the reptile clade Archosauria
7.
Theropoda
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Theropoda or theropods are a group of saurischian dinosaurs. Theropods were ancestrally carnivorous, although a number of theropod groups evolved herbivory, omnivory, piscivory, in the Jurassic, birds evolved from small specialized coelurosaurian theropods, and are today represented by 10,000 living species. Theropods exhibit a range of diets, from insectivores to herbivores and carnivores. Strict carnivory has always considered the ancestral diet for theropods as a group. However, discoveries in the late 20th and early 21st centuries showed that a variety of diets existed even in more basal lineages, all early finds of theropod fossils showed them to be primarily carnivorous. For example, a Compsognathus longipes fossil was found with a lizard in its stomach, the first confirmed non-carnivorous fossil theropods found were the therizinosaurs, originally known as segnosaurs. First thought to be prosauropods, these enigmatic dinosaurs were later proven to be highly specialized, therizinosaurs possessed large abdomens for processing plant food, and small heads with beaks and leaf-shaped teeth. Further study of maniraptoran theropods and their relationships showed that therizinosaurs were not the early members of this group to abandon carnivory. Several other lineages of early maniraptors show adaptations for an omnivorous diet, oviraptorosaurs, ornithomimosaurs and advanced troodontids were likely omnivorous as well, and some early theropods appear to have specialized in catching fish. Diet is largely deduced by the morphology, tooth marks on bones of the prey. Some theropods, such as Baryonyx, Lourinhanosaurus, ornithomimosaurs, and birds, are known to use gastroliths, the majority of theropod teeth are blade-like, with serration on the edges, called ziphodont. Others are pachydont or phyllodont depending on the shape of the tooth or denticles, the morphology of the teeth is distinct enough to tell the major families apart, which indicate different diet strategies. The folds helped the teeth stay in place longer, especially as theropods evolved into larger sizes and had more force in their bite, Mesozoic theropods were also very diverse in terms of skin texture and covering. Feathers or feather-like structures are attested in most lineages of theropods, however, outside the coelurosaurs, feathers may have been confined to the young, smaller species, or limited parts of the animal. Many larger theropods had skin covered in small, bumpy scales, in some species, these were interspersed with larger scales with bony cores, or osteoderms. This type of skin is best known in the ceratosaur Carnotaurus, the coelurosaur lineages most distant from birds had feathers that were relatively short and composed of simple, possibly branching filaments. Simple filaments are also seen in therizinosaurs, which also possessed large, more fully feathered theropods, such as dromaeosaurs, usually retain scales only on the feet. Some species may have mixed feathers elsewhere on the body as well, scansoriopteryx preserved scales near the underside of the tail, and Juravenator may have been predominantly scaly with some simple filaments interspersed
8.
Dinosaur
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Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria that first appeared during the Triassic. Although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is the subject of active research and they became the dominant terrestrial vertebrates after the Triassic–Jurassic extinction event 201 million years ago. Their dominance continued through the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods and ended when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of most dinosaur groups 66 million years ago, until the late 20th century, all groups of dinosaurs were believed to be extinct. As such, birds were the dinosaur lineage to survive the mass extinction event. This article deals primarily with non-avian dinosaurs, Dinosaurs are a varied group of animals from taxonomic, morphological and ecological standpoints. Birds, at over 10,000 living species, are the most diverse group of vertebrates besides perciform fish, using fossil evidence, paleontologists have identified over 500 distinct genera and more than 1,000 different species of non-avian dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are represented on every continent by both extant species and fossil remains, while dinosaurs were ancestrally bipedal, many extinct groups included quadrupedal species, and some were able to shift between these stances. Elaborate display structures such as horns or crests are common to all dinosaur groups, evidence suggests that egg laying and nest building are additional traits shared by all dinosaurs.7 meters and heights of 18 meters and were the largest land animals of all time. Still, the idea that dinosaurs were uniformly gigantic is a misconception based in part on preservation bias, as large. Many dinosaurs were small, Xixianykus, for example, was only about 50 cm long. Through the first half of the 20th century, before birds were recognized to be dinosaurs, most of the community believed dinosaurs to have been sluggish. Most research conducted since the 1970s, however, has indicated that all dinosaurs were active animals with elevated metabolisms and numerous adaptations for social interaction. The large sizes of some groups, as well as their seemingly monstrous and fantastic nature, have ensured dinosaurs regular appearance in best-selling books and films. Persistent public enthusiasm for the animals has resulted in significant funding for dinosaur science, the term is derived from the Greek words δεινός and σαῦρος. Though the taxonomic name has often interpreted as a reference to dinosaurs teeth, claws. Instead, dinosaurs, like many forms of reptile sub-groups, did not exhibit characteristics which were traditionally regarded as reptilian. Under phylogenetic nomenclature, dinosaurs are usually defined as the group consisting of Triceratops, Neornithes, their most recent common ancestor, Birds are now recognized as being the sole surviving lineage of theropod dinosaurs. In traditional taxonomy, birds were considered a class that had evolved from dinosaurs
9.
Yanornis
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Yanornis is an extinct genus of fish-eating Early Cretaceous birds. Similarly, its scapula and coracoid had evolved the basic shape and layout as in modern birds and it was probably a more efficient flyer compared to enantiornithines, and especially compared to Confuciusornis and Archaeopteryx, which were only marginally able to perform upstrokes. To allow for the large flight muscles, the sternum of Yanornis was longer than it was wide. Several fossil specimens of Y. martini preserve the remains of fish in the stomach and crop and their fish-eating and associated adaptations show convergent evolution with the unrelated enantiornithine Longipteryx. One specimen preserved large amounts of supposed gastroliths in the gizzard region, large numbers of small gastroliths are usually associated with species that need to grind tough plant material, such as seeds, after swallowing them. This led some scientists to suggest that Yanornis was capable of switching, perhaps seasonally. However, later studies cast doubt on the diet-switching hypothesis, rather, the stones were spread throughout the body cavity in a front-to-back arrangement. This has been suggested to correspond closely with the intestines. In modern birds, sand is often swallowed accidentally during feeding, the cladogram below follows O’Connor et al.2013 phylogenetic analysis. The clade names are positioned based on their definitions, the genus name Yanornis is derived from the Ancient Chinese Yan dynasties, whose capital was at Chaoyang, and Ancient Greek ornis, bird. The species Y. martini was named for avian paleontologist Larry Martin, Yanornis gained notoriety when the front half of a fossil bird was combined with the tail of a Microraptor to make the paleontological forgery Archaeoraptor. Upon discovering this, the half was described as Archaeovolans repatriatus
10.
Dromaeosauridae
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Dromaeosauridae is a family of feathered theropod dinosaurs. They were small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period, the name Dromaeosauridae means running lizards, from Greek dromeus meaning runner and sauros meaning lizard. They first appeared in the mid-Jurassic Period and survived until the end of the Cretaceous, existing for over 100 million years, until the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. The presence of dromaeosaurids as early as the Middle Jurassic has been confirmed by the discovery of isolated fossil teeth, the distinctive dromaeosaurid body plan helped to rekindle theories that at least some dinosaurs may have been active, fast, and closely related to birds. Robert Bakkers illustration for John Ostroms 1969 monograph, showing the dromaeosaurid Deinonychus in a fast run, is among the most influential paleontological reconstructions in history. The dromaeosaurid body plan includes a large skull, serrated teeth, narrow snout. Dromaeosaurids, like most other theropods, had a moderately long S-curved neck, like other maniraptorans, they had long arms that could be folded against the body in some species, and relatively large hands with three long fingers ending in large claws. The dromaeosaurid hip structure featured a characteristically large pubic boot projecting beneath the base of the tail, dromaeosaurid feet bore a large, recurved claw on the second toe. Their tails were slender, with long, low, vertebrae lacking transverse process and it is now known that at least some, and probably all, dromaeosaurids were covered in feathers, including large, vaned, wing and tail feathers. Like other theropods, dromaeosaurids were bipedal, that is, they walked on their hind legs, the enlarged second toe bore an unusually large, curved, falciform claw, which is thought to have been used in capturing prey and climbing trees. This claw was especially blade-like in the large-bodied predatory eudromaeosaurs, one possible dromaeosaurid species, Balaur bondoc, also possessed a first toe which was highly modified in parallel with the second. Both the first and second toes on each foot of B. bondoc were held retracted. Most of the tail vertebrae bear bony, rod-like extensions, as well as bony tendons in some species. In his study of Deinonychus, Ostrom proposed that these features stiffened the tail so that it could only flex at the base, however, one well-preserved specimen of Velociraptor mongoliensis has an articulated tail skeleton that is curved horizontally in a long S-shape. This suggests that, in life, the tail could bend from side to side with a degree of flexibility. This may have used as an aerodynamic stabilizer and rudder during gliding or powered flight. Dromaeosaurids were small to medium-sized dinosaurs, ranging from about 0.7 metres in length to over 6 metres, large size appears to have evolved at least twice among dromaeosaurids, once among the dromaeosaurines Utahraptor and Achillobator, and again among the unenlagiines. A possible third lineage of giant dromaeosaurids is represented by isolated teeth found on the Isle of Wight, the teeth belong to an animal the size of the dromaeosaurine Utahraptor, but they appear to belong to velociraptorines, judging by the shape of the teeth
11.
Microraptor
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Microraptor was a genus of small, four-winged paravian dinosaurs. Numerous well-preserved fossil specimens have been recovered from Liaoning, China and they date from the early Cretaceous Jiufotang Formation,120 million years ago. Three species have been named, though further study has suggested that all of them represent variation in a single species, Cryptovolans, initially described as another four-winged dinosaur, is usually considered to be a synonym of Microraptor. Like Archaeopteryx, well-preserved fossils of Microraptor provide important evidence about the relationship between birds and dinosaurs. Microraptor had long pennaceous feathers that formed aerodynamic surfaces on the arms and tail and this led paleontologist Xu Xing in 2003 to describe the first specimen to preserve this feature as a four-winged dinosaur and to speculate that it may have glided using all four limbs for lift. Subsequent studies have suggested that Microraptor was capable of powered flight as well, with adult specimens ranging 42–83 centimetres long and with a weight estimated up to 1 kilogram, Microraptor was among the smallest known non-avian dinosaurs. Holtz estimated it longer at 90 centimetres, an even longer estimate, made by Benson et al. in 2012 found that Microraptor had a maximum length of 1.2 metres. Aside from their small size, Microraptor were among the first non-avialan dinosaurs discovered with the impressions of feathers. Seven specimens of M. zhaoianus have been described in detail, unusual even among early birds and feathered dinosaurs, Microraptor is one of the few known bird precursors to sport long flight feathers on the legs as well as the wings. Their bodies had a covering of feathers, with a diamond-shaped fan on the end of the tail. Xu et al. compared the longer plumes on Microraptors head to those of the Philippine eagle, bands of dark and light present on some specimens may indicate color patterns present in life, though at least some individuals almost certainly possessed an iridescent black coloration. Microraptor is particularly similar to the basal troodontid Sinovenator, in their 2002 description of two M. zhaoianus specimens, Hwang et al. In March 2012, Quanguo Li et al. determined the plumage coloration of Microraptor based on the new specimen BMNHC PH881, by analyzing the fossilized melanosomes in the fossil with scanning electron microscope techniques, the researchers compared their arrangements to those of modern birds. In Microraptor, these cells were shaped in a consistent with black. These rod-shaped, narrow melanosomes were arranged in stacked layers, much like those of a modern starling, Microraptor had four wings, one on each of its forelimbs and hindlimbs, somewhat resembling one possible arrangement of the quartet of flight surfaces on a tandem wing aircraft of today. It had long pennaceous feathers on arms and hands, with legs, the long feathers on the legs of Microraptor were true flight feathers as seen in modern birds, with asymmetrical vanes on the arm, leg, and tail feathers. As in modern bird wings, Microraptor had both primary and secondary flight feathers and this standard wing pattern was mirrored on the hindlegs, with flight feathers anchored to the upper foot bones as well as the upper and lower leg. Some paleontologists have suggested that dinosaurs used their wings to parachute from trees, possibly to attack or ambush prey on the ground
12.
Feathered dinosaur
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A feathered dinosaur is any species of dinosaur possessing feathers. Among extinct dinosaurs, feathers or feather-like integument have been discovered on dozens of genera via both direct and indirect fossil evidence, the vast majority of feather discoveries have been for coelurosaurian theropods. However, integument has also discovered on at least three ornithischians, raising the likelihood that proto-feathers were also present in earlier dinosaurs. It is possible that feathers first developed in an earlier group. Crocodilians also possess beta keratin very similar to those of birds, shortly after the 1859 publication of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species, British biologist Thomas Henry Huxley proposed that birds were descendants of dinosaurs. He compared the structure of Compsognathus, a small theropod dinosaur. He showed that, apart from its hands and feathers, Archaeopteryx was quite similar to Compsognathus, thus Archaeopteryx represents a transitional fossil. In 1868 he published On the Animals which are most nearly intermediate between Birds and Reptiles, making the case, the leading dinosaur expert of the time, Richard Owen, disagreed, claiming Archaeopteryx as the first bird outside dinosaur lineage. In 1969, John Ostrom described Deinonychus antirrhopus, a theropod that he had discovered in Montana in 1964, Ostrom became a leading proponent of the theory that birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs. Further comparisons of bird and dinosaur skeletons, as well as cladistic analysis strengthened the case for the link, skeletal similarities include the neck, the pubis, the wrists, the arms and pectoral girdle, the shoulder blade, the clavicle and the breast bone. In all, over a hundred distinct anatomical features are shared by birds, other researchers drew on these shared features and other aspects of dinosaur biology and began to suggest that at least some theropod dinosaurs were feathered. Gregory S. Paul was probably among the first paleoartists to depict non-avian maniraptoran dinosaurs with feathers and protofeathers, by the 1990s, most paleontologists considered birds to be surviving dinosaurs and referred to non-avian dinosaurs, to distinguish them from birds. Before the discovery of feathered dinosaurs, the evidence was limited to Huxley, some mainstream ornithologists, including Smithsonian Institution curator Storrs L. Olson, disputed the links, specifically citing the lack of fossil evidence for feathered dinosaurs. After a century of hypotheses without conclusive evidence, well-preserved fossils of feathered dinosaurs were discovered during the 1990s, the fossils were preserved in a Lagerstätte — a sedimentary deposit exhibiting remarkable richness and completeness in its fossils — in Liaoning, China. The area had repeatedly been smothered in volcanic ash produced by eruptions in Inner Mongolia 124 million years ago, the fine-grained ash preserved the living organisms that it buried in fine detail. The area was teeming with life, with millions of leaves, angiosperms, insects, fish, frogs, salamanders, mammals, turtles, turner et al. reported quill knobs from an ulna of Velociraptor mongoliensis, and these are strongly correlated with large and well-developed secondary feathers. Behavioural evidence, in the form of an oviraptorosaur on its nest and its forearms were folded, like those of a bird. Although no feathers were preserved, it is likely that these would have been present to insulate eggs, not all of the Chinese fossil discoveries proved valid however
13.
Liaoning
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Liaoning is a province of China, located in the northeast of the country. The modern province was established in 1907 as Fengtian or Fengtien province and it was also known as Mukden province at the time, for the Manchu pronunciation of Shengjing, the former name of the provincial capital Shenyang. Under the Japanese-puppet Manchukuo regime, the province reverted to its 1907 name but the name Liaoning was restored in 1945, Liaoning is the southernmost part of Manchuria, the Chinese Northeast. The Yalu River marks its border with North Korea, emptying into the Korea Bay between Dandong in Liaoning and Sinuiju in North Korea, the characters forming the provinces modern Chinese name are 辽 and 宁. They are the forms of the traditional characters 遼 and 寧. The first character literally means far, distant but is actually a reference to the Liao River which flows through the territory. The second literally means peace, calm but in such Chinese place names actually has the sense of pacified, made peaceful, here in reference to the turbulent situation of Manchuria in the late 1920s. In both English and Chinese, however, it is most common to gloss the name as the more literal Peace on the Liao, the provinces one-character abbreviation in Chinese is 辽. Liaoning is located in the part of Northeast China. In the past, it formed part of Korean kingdoms as Gojoseon, Goguryeo, and Balhae, as well as Chinese polities such as the Yan State and it was also inhabited by non-Han peoples such as Xiongnu, Donghu, Xianbei. In addition, the Khitan, Jurchen, Mongol Empire and Northern Yuan ruled Liaoning, the Ming Empire took control of Liaoning in 1371, just three years after the expulsion of the Mongols from Beijing. Around 1442, a wall was constructed to defend the agricultural heartland of the province from a potential threat from the Jurchen-Mongol Oriyanghan from the northwest. Between 1467 and 1468, the wall was expanded to protect the region from the northeast as well, although similar in purpose to the Great Wall of China, this Liaodong Wall was of a lower-cost design. While stones and tiles were used in parts, most of the wall was in fact simply an earth dike with moats on both sides. Despite the Liaodong Wall, the Manchus conquered Liaodong, or eastern Liaoning, in the early 17th century, decades before the rest of China fell to them. The Manchu dynasty, styled Later Jin, established its capital in 1616–1621 in Xingjing and it was moved to Dongjing, and finally in 1625 to Shengjing. Although the main Qing capital was moved from Shengjing to Beijing after it fell to the Qing in 1644, in the Governors words, Tieling and Fushun only have a few vagrants. West of the Liaohe, only Ningyuan, Jinzhou, and Guangning had any significant populations remaining, in the latter half of the seventeenth century, the imperial Qing government recruited migrants from south of the Great Wall to settle the relatively sparsely populated area of Fengtian Province
14.
National Museum of Natural History
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The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D. C. Opened in 1910, the museum on the National Mall was one of the first Smithsonian buildings constructed exclusively to hold the national collections and research facilities. The main building has an area of 1,500,000 square feet with 325,000 square feet of exhibition and public space. The museums collections contain over 126 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, the United States National Museum was founded in 1846 as part of the Smithsonian Institution. The museum was housed in the Smithsonian Institution Building, which is better known today as the Smithsonian Castle. A formal exhibit hall opened in 1858, the growing collection led to the construction of a new building, the National Museum Building. Covering a then-enormous 2.25 acres, it was built in just 15 months at a cost of $310,000, congress authorized construction of a new building on June 28,1902. The regents began considering sites for the new building in March, the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall was chosen to design the structure. Testing of the soil for the foundations was set for July 1903, the Natural History Building opened its doors to the public on March 17,1910, in order to provide the Smithsonian Institution with more space for collections and research. The building was not fully completed until June 1911, the structure cost $3.5 million dollars. The Neoclassical style building was the first structure constructed on the side of the National Mall as part of the 1901 McMillan Commission plan. In addition to the Smithsonians natural history collection, it housed the American history, art. Between 1981 and 2003, the National Museum of Natural History had 11 permanent, there were six directors alone between 1990 and 2002. Turnover was high as the directors were disenchanted by low levels of funding. Robert W. Fri was named the director in 1996. One of the largest donations in Smithsonian history was made during Fris tenure, kenneth E. Behring donated $20 million in 1997 to modernize the museum. Fri resigned in 2001 after disagreeing with Smithsonian leadership over the reorganization of the scientific research programs. J. Dennis OConnor, Provost of the Smithsonian Institution was named acting director of the museum on July 25,2001, eight months later, OConner resigned to become the vice president of research and dean of the graduate school at the University of Maryland
15.
Utah
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Utah is a state in the western United States. It became the 45th state admitted to the U. S. on January 4,1896, Utah is the 13th-largest by area, 31st-most-populous, and 10th-least-densely populated of the 50 United States. Utah has a population of more than 3 million, approximately 80% of whom live along the Wasatch Front, Utah is bordered by Colorado to the east, Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast, approximately 62% of Utahns are reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS, which greatly influences Utahn culture and daily life. The LDS Churchs world headquarters is located in Salt Lake City, Utah is the only state with a majority population belonging to a single church. The state is a center of transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, in 2013, the U. S. Census Bureau estimated that Utah had the second fastest-growing population of any state. St. George was the metropolitan area in the United States from 2000 to 2005. Utah also has the 14th highest median income and the least income inequality of any U. S. state. A2012 Gallup national survey found Utah overall to be the best state to live in based on 13 forward-looking measurements including various economic, lifestyle, the name Utah is derived from the name of the Ute tribe. It means people of the mountains in the Ute language, according to other sources Utah is derived from the Apache name Yudah which means Tall. These Native American tribes are subgroups of the Ute-Aztec Native American ethnicity and were sedentary, the Ancestral Pueblo people built their homes through excavations in mountains, and the Fremont people built houses of straw before disappearing from the region around the 15th century. Another group of Native Americans, the Navajo, settled in the region around the 18th century, in the mid-18th century, other Uto-Aztecan tribes, including the Goshute, the Paiute, the Shoshone, and the Ute people, also settled in the region. These five groups were present when the first European explorers arrived, the southern Utah region was explored by the Spanish in 1540, led by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, while looking for the legendary Cíbola. A group led by two Catholic priests—sometimes called the Dominguez-Escalante Expedition—left Santa Fe in 1776, hoping to find a route to the coast of California, the expedition traveled as far north as Utah Lake and encountered the native residents. The Spanish made further explorations in the region, but were not interested in colonizing the area because of its desert nature, in 1821, the year Mexico achieved its independence from Spain, the region became known as part of its territory of Alta California. European trappers and fur traders explored some areas of Utah in the early 19th century from Canada, the city of Provo, Utah was named for one, Étienne Provost, who visited the area in 1825. The city of Ogden, Utah was named after Peter Skene Ogden, in late 1824, Jim Bridger became the first known English-speaking person to sight the Great Salt Lake. Due to the salinity of its waters, Bridger thought he had found the Pacific Ocean
16.
Tucson, Arizona
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Tucson is a city and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States, and home to the University of Arizona. The 2010 United States Census put the population at 520,116, the Tucson MSA forms part of the larger Tucson-Nogales combined statistical area, with a total population of 1,010,025 as of the 2010 Census. Tucson is the second-largest populated city in Arizona behind Phoenix, both of which anchor the Arizona Sun Corridor, the city is located 108 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 mi north of the U. S. –Mexico border. Tucson is the 33rd largest city and the 53rd largest metropolitan area in the United States, Major incorporated suburbs of Tucson include Oro Valley and Marana northwest of the city, Sahuarita south of the city, and South Tucson in an enclave south of downtown. Communities in the vicinity of Tucson include Casas Adobes, Catalina Foothills, Flowing Wells, Midvale Park, Tanque Verde, Tortolita, towns outside the Tucson metro area include Benson to the southeast, Catalina and Oracle to the north, and Green Valley to the south. The Spanish name of the city, Tucsón, is derived from the Oodham Cuk Ṣon, meaning base of the black, Tucson is sometimes referred to as The Old Pueblo. Tucson was probably first visited by Paleo-Indians, known to have been in southern Arizona about 12,000 years ago, recent archaeological excavations near the Santa Cruz River have located a village site dating from 2100 BC. The floodplain of the Santa Cruz River was extensively farmed during the Early Agricultural Period and these people constructed irrigation canals and grew corn, beans, and other crops while gathering wild plants and hunting. The Early Ceramic period occupation of Tucson saw the first extensive use of vessels for cooking. The groups designated as the Hohokam lived in the area from AD600 to 1450 and are known for their vast irrigation canal systems and their red-on-brown pottery. Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino visited the Santa Cruz River valley in 1692, a separate Convento settlement was founded downstream along the Santa Cruz River, near the base of what is now A mountain. Hugo OConor, the father of the city of Tucson, Arizona authorized the construction of a military fort in that location, Presidio San Agustín del Tucsón. During the Spanish period of the presidio, attacks such as the Second Battle of Tucson were repeatedly mounted by Apaches, eventually the town came to be called Tucson and became a part of Sonora after Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821. Tucson was not included in the Mexican Cession and Cookes road through Tucson became one of the important routes into California during the California Gold Rush, Arizona, south of the Gila River, was obtained via treaty from Mexico in the Gadsden Purchase on June 8,1854. Tucson became a part of the United States of America, although the American military did not formally take control until March 1856. In 1857, Tucson became a station on the San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line. The Overland Mail Corporation attempted to continue running, however, following the Bascom Affair, devastating Apache attacks on the stations, from August 1861 to mid-1862, Tucson was the western capital of the Confederate Arizona Territory, the eastern capital being Mesilla. In 1862, the California Column drove the Confederate forces out of Arizona, Tucson and all of what is now Arizona were part of New Mexico Territory until 1863, when they became part of the new Arizona Territory
17.
Blanding, Utah
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Blanding is a city in San Juan County, Utah, United States. The population was 3,375 at the 2010 census, making it the most populated city in San Juan County and it was settled in the late 19th century by Mormon settlers, predominantly from the famed Hole-In-The-Rock expedition. Economic contributors include mineral processing, mining, agriculture, local commerce, tourism, Blanding is located near both the Navajo and White Mesa Ute Native American reservations, and a significant percentage of Blandings population has family ties to these nearby cultures. It is located approximately 1 hour south of the popular recreation hub of Moab, first known as Grayson, the town changed its name in 1914 when a wealthy easterner, Thomas W. Bicknell, offered a thousand-volume library to any town that would adopt his name. Grayson competed with Thurber, Utah for the prize, Grayson was renamed Blanding after the maiden name of Bicknells wife, and each of the towns received 500 books. Blanding is located at 37°37′24″N 109°28′44″W in the Four Corners area of the Colorado Plateau, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.4 square miles, all land. As of the census of 2010, there were 3,375 people,1,013 households, the population density was 1,332.7 people per square mile. There were 1,110 housing units at a density of 417.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 66. 1% White,0. 3% African American,29. 4% Native American,0. 09% Asian,0. 01% Pacific Islander. 5% from other races, and 3. 3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3. 8% of the population,20. 4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8. 8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.19 and the family size was 3.71. In the city, the population was out with 39. 2% under the age of 19,9. 87% from 20 to 24, 22% from 25 to 44,18. 8% from 45 to 64. The median age was 26.6 years, for every 100 females there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males, the median income for a household in the city was $43,946, and the median income for a family was $50,833. Males had an income of $42,667 versus $21,615 for females. About 14. 1% of families and 11. 1% of the population were below the poverty line, the community of Blanding and its surrounding area is rich in Anasazi artifacts, many examples of which are now on display at the Edge of the Cedars Museum. Largely these examples have come from the collections of local residents and were put together early in the history of the community, federal authorities still retain out-of-area custody of local artifacts seized in raids conducted in 2009
18.
Philip J. Currie
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He was one of the models for palaeontologist Alan Grant in the film Jurassic Park. Currie received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto in 1972, a Master of Science from McGill University in 1975, and his Masters thesis and Ph. D. thesis were on synapsids and early aquatic diapsids respectively. Currie became curator of earth sciences at the Provincial Museum of Alberta in Edmonton in 1976 just as he began the Ph. D. program, within three seasons he had so much success at fieldwork that the province began planning a larger museum to hold the collection. The collection became part of the Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, which was completed in 1985, over the last 25 years he has worked on fossil discovery in Mongolia, Argentina, Dinosaur Provincial Park, Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park, and many other locations. His contributions to paleontology include synonymizing the genera Troodon and Stenonychosaurus in 1987, the similarities between the troödonts and birds made him a major proponent of the theory that birds are descended from dinosaurs. In contrast with the 1996 discovery of Sinosauropteryx, which showed the impression of downy filaments. This not only helped cement the theory that birds are descended from dinosaurs and this discovery made him a celebrity, featured in numerous popular articles and documentaries. He was involved in exposing a composite specimen that had been the subject of the 1999 National Geographic Archeoraptor scandal. Currie became increasingly skeptical of the belief that large carnivorous dinosaurs were solitary animals. However, circumstantial evidence came when he tracked down a site mentioned by Barnum Brown that featured 12 specimens of Albertosaurus from various age groups. In 2015, a museum entitled to Philip J. Currie, the museum, designed by Teeple Architects, celebrates one of the world’s richest dinosaur-bone beds, Pipestone Creek. Currie is a lifelong fan, and fan of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs. He is married to the Danish palaeobotanist and palynologist Eva Koppelhus, halbouty Human Needs Award 1999, Elected to the Royal Society of Canada 2001, The festschrift Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, New Research Inspired by the Paleontology of Philip J. As one of the worlds foremost palaeontologists, Currie has been featured in films, programs in radio and television. Apart from this, he has also been accessorial to many books, Dinosaur Systematics, Approaches and Perspectives, the flying dinosaurs, the illustrated guide to the evolution of flight. Great Dinosaurs, From Triassic Through Jurassic to Cretaceous,101 Questions about Dinosaurs, ISBN 0-486-29172-3. Graveyards of the dinosaurs, what its like to discover prehistoric creatures, a Moment in Time with Troodon. A Moment in Time with Sinosauropteryx, a Moment in Time with Albertosaurus
19.
National Geographic Society
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The National Geographic Society, headquartered in Washington, D. C. United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational institutions in the world and its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. In partnership with 21st Century Fox, the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website that features extra content and worldwide events, the National Geographic Society was founded in 1888 to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge. The Society believes in the power of science, exploration and storytelling to change the world, National Geographic is governed by a board of trustees, whose 21 members include distinguished educators, business executives, former government officials and conservationists. The organization sponsors and funds research and exploration. National Geographic maintains a museum for the public in its Washington and its Education Foundation gives grants to education organizations and individuals to improve geography education. Its Committee for Research and Exploration has awarded more than 11,000 grants for scientific research, National Geographic has retail stores in Washington, D. C. The locations outside of the United States are operated by Worldwide Retail Store S. L and it also publishes other magazines, books, school products, maps, and Web and film products in numerous languages and countries. National Geographics various media properties reach more than 280 million people monthly, the National Geographic Society began as a club for an elite group of academics and wealthy patrons interested in travel. After preparing a constitution and a plan of organization, the National Geographic Society was incorporated two weeks later on January 27, Gardiner Greene Hubbard became its first president and his son-in-law, Alexander Graham Bell, succeeded him in 1897. Bell and Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor devised the successful marketing notion of Society membership, the current National Geographic Society president and CEO is Gary E. Knell. The chairman of the board of trustees is John Fahey, the editor-in-chief of National Geographic magazine is Susan Goldberg. Gilbert Melville Grosvenor, a chairman of the Society board of trustees received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005 for his leadership in geography education. In 2004, the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D. C. was one of the first buildings to receive a Green certification from Global Green USA. The National Geographic received the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities in October 2006 in Oviedo, in 2013 the society was investigated for possible violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act relating to their close association with an Egyptian government official responsible for antiquities. This new, for-profit corporation, will own National Geographic and other magazines, as reported by The Guardian, a spokesman for National Geographic in a November 2,2015 e-mail statement, briefly discussed the rationale for the staff reductions as part of the. Process of reorganizing in order to move forward following the closing the National Geographic Partners deal. Additional specifics were provided to Photo District News by M. J. Jacobsen, National Geographic’s SVP of communications, similar to the contents of a formal announcement by the two companies
20.
Nature (journal)
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Nature is an English multidisciplinary scientific journal, first published on 4 November 1869. Nature claims a readership of about 3 million unique readers per month. The journal has a circulation of around 53,000. There are also sections on books and arts, the remainder of the journal consists mostly of research papers, which are often dense and highly technical. There are many fields of research in which important new advances, the papers that have been published in this journal are internationally acclaimed for maintaining high research standards. In 2007 Nature received the Princess of Asturias Award for Communications, the enormous progress in science and mathematics during the 19th century was recorded in journals written mostly in German or French, as well as in English. Britain underwent enormous technological and industrial changes and advances particularly in the half of the 19th century. In addition, during this period, the number of popular science periodicals doubled from the 1850s to the 1860s. According to the editors of these popular science magazines, the publications were designed to serve as organs of science, in essence, Nature, first created in 1869, was not the first magazine of its kind in Britain. While Recreative Science had attempted to more physical sciences such as astronomy and archaeology. Two other journals produced in England prior to the development of Nature were the Quarterly Journal of Science and Scientific Opinion, established in 1864 and 1868 and these similar journals all ultimately failed. The Popular Science Review survived longest, lasting 20 years and ending its publication in 1881, Recreative Science ceased publication as the Student, the Quarterly Journal, after undergoing a number of editorial changes, ceased publication in 1885. The Reader terminated in 1867, and finally, Scientific Opinion lasted a mere 2 years, janet Browne has proposed that far more than any other science journal of the period, Nature was conceived, born, and raised to serve polemic purpose. Perhaps it was in part its scientific liberality that made Nature a longer-lasting success than its predecessors and this is what Lockyers journal did from the start. Norman Lockyer, the founder of Nature, was a professor at Imperial College and he was succeeded as editor in 1919 by Sir Richard Gregory. Gregory helped to establish Nature in the scientific community. During the years 1945 to 1973, editorship of Nature changed three times, first in 1945 to A. J. V. Gale and L. J. F. Brimble, then to John Maddox in 1965, and finally to David Davies in 1973. In 1980, Maddox returned as editor and retained his position until 1995, philip Campbell has since become Editor-in-chief of all Nature publications
