Exam 15: Life of the Mesozoic Era

By the end of the Mesozoic, bony fish had gone through a three-fold evolution from primitive to an advanced group called teleosts.

What was one characteristic of ammonites in the Mesozoic?

Rare in crustal rocks, but abundant in some meteoroids, the presence of a(n) ____________________ layer provides evidence for a meteorite impact at the end of the Mesozoic.

Were dinosaurs endotherms or ectotherms? Explain lines of evidence that are important to making a determination of warm- or cold-bloodedness.

____________________ were short or long-necked marine reptiles that gave birth to live young.

The distinction between the Ornithischian and Saurischian dinosaurs is based on the ____.

The mass extinction at the end of the Mesozoic was of far greater magnitude than the extinction at the end of the Permian.

Almost all species of bony fish today are ray-finned fish.

Which statement about ichthyosaurs is true?

Ammonites were one of the major groups of Mesozoic marine fauna to go extinct at the end of the Cretaceous.

The two major groups of dinosaurs were ____________________ and ____________________.

Discuss the mechanisms for flight that some reptiles developed in the Mesozoic.

Relatively few invertebrates existed at the beginning of the Mesozoic, but by the end of the Cretaceous, they were more abundant and diversified.

Which observation would undermine, and not provide support for, the idea that a meteorite impacted Earth at the end of the Mesozoic?

Ornithischians were much larger than the Saurischians.

How do the Mesozoic marine communities differ from those of the Paleozoic?

Flowers and insects have coevolved because each depends greatly on the other.

Flowering plants called ____________________ flourished in the Late Cretaceous.

Humans ( Homo sapiens ) are ____.

Compare and contrast the various groups of dinosaurs. Provide examples of each group.