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Exhibit Resource

Travel back to the Mesozoic Era and introduce your students to the most remarkable marine reptiles that once dominated the seas. Students will learn about these incredible sea monsters, come face-to-face with the mightiest marine reptile of the Jurassic seas and meet living creatures that have inhabited planet Earth for millions of years.

Exhibit highlights include:

Life-sized replicas of the most amazing species that ever lived, including 42-foot Elasmosaurus, 20-foot Kronosaurus, 21-foot

Zygorhiza, 16-foot Dunkleosteus and 34-foot Liopleurodon.

Interactive and educational stations where your students can explore a variety of prehistoric and living marine species, compare

replicas of the largest sea turtles that ever lived and become an amateur paleontologist in a fossil research quarry.

New live aquarium residents — the beautifully intricate chambered nautilus, the mysterious giant isopod, and the large and leggy

Japanese spider crab.

The Exhibit Resource includes: Mass Extinction and Moving Continents (Page 2)

How Fossils Form and Make A Fossil Activity (Page 3)

Animal Fossils Matching Game (Page 4):

Answer Key Liopleurodon B Shark E Nautilus D Octopus A Sea Turtle C Tyrannosuarus F

Dinosaur vs. Marine Reptile (Page 5)

The First Invertebrates and Prehistoric Fish Scavenger Hunt (Page 6)

Ancient Aquatic Animal Scavenger Hunt (Page 7)

Answer Key Sea Anemone Cambrian Period Horseshoe Crab Devonian Period

Shark Devonian Period Crocodile Triassic Period Sea Turtle Triassic Period Frog Triassic Period

Penguin Paleocene Epoch Hippopotamus Miocene Epoch Orthoceros Ordovician Period

Geologic Time Chart (Page 8)

Web Resources http://www.adventureaquarium.com/What-to-do/Dinosaurs-of-the-Deep.aspx

http://www.prehistoric-wildlife.com/

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/help/timeform.php

http://dinosaurs.about.com/od/aquaticdinosaurs/

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Triassic Period Jurassic Period Cretaceous Period Earth Today

All of the world’s land was part

of a great continent called

Pangea. The first dinosaurs

appeared during this period.

Pangea split into northern

Laurasia and southern

Gondwana.

Shallow seas came and went,

dividing the continents into

their present form.

Today the continents are still

moving. Millions of years

from now the Earth will be

unrecognizable again.

Moving Continents Over millions of years, Earth’s land masses have drifted slowly around the globe.

Mass Extinction

Over 90% of all species that have ever lived on Earth are extinct. As they disappear, new ones evolve to take their place.

Several extinction events have taken place in the past, each wiping out many species. The cause of each is a mystery but prime

culprits seem to be extreme volcanic eruptions and impacts of massive objects from space, resulting in global climate change.

*mya = millions of years ago

The Five Largest Mass Extinctions:

Ordovician-Silurian extinction 443 mya / 85% marine life lost.

Late Devonian extinction 359 mya / 70% of marine species were lost

Permian-Triassic extinction 248 mya / 96% of all species were lost.

End Triassic extinction 200 mya / 52% animal species were lost.

Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction 65 mya / 75% species lost including the dinosaurs.

Is a mass extinction happening now?

Scientists suggest that we are in the middle of a mass extinction event, the fastest in Earth's history. In 500 years, at least 322

types of animals have disappeared and over 20,000 species are now threatened with extinction. Humans will need to take

responsibility— by the year 2100, human activities such as pollution, land clearing, and overfishing may have driven more than

half of the world's marine and land species to extinction.

Conservation is the key!

To learn more, visit these websites:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/extinction_events

http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/show/3413789/mass-extinction-life-at-the-brink

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How Fossils Form

Fossils are the remains or an impression of an animal or plant that existed in the past. Fossilization depends on a series of chances:

Step 1.

An animal dies and its body is

washed by a flood onto a river

bank. Its flesh, guts and other soft

parts are eaten by scavengers or

rotted away, leaving only bones.

Step 2.

The river floods and covers

the bones in mud and other

sediment. This happens many

times, burying the bones

deeper.

Step 3.

Minerals from the sediment seep

into the bones, slowly replacing the

bone and turning it to stone.

Pressure increases within the many

layers of sediment turning it into

solid rock.

Step 4.

Over millions of years, the

forces of nature gradually

wear away the upper

layers until the fossilized

animal bones are finally

exposed.

Materials:

1 cup of used coffee grounds

1/2 cup of cold coffee

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup of salt

Wax paper

Mixing bowl

Small objects to make impressions in the dough

Empty can or cup

(diameter larger than your objects )

Directions:

Stir together the coffee grounds, cold coffee, flour, and salt until well

mixed.

Knead the dough together and then flatten it out onto the waxed paper.

Use the can or cup to cut out circles of the dough.

Press an object firmly into the dough. When you take the object out, you

have an impression of your object.

Let your “fossil” dry overnight.

Make A Fossil Activity

Celebrate the 5th Annual National Fossil Day

October 14, 2015

http://www.nature.nps.gov/geology/nationalfossilday/index.cfm

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Liopleurodon Fossil ______

Shark Fossil ______

Nautilus Fossil ______

Octopus Fossil ______

Sea Turtle Fossil ______

Tyrannosaurus Fossil ______

A B

C D

F E

Animal Fossils

What we know about animals in the past is mostly based on the fossils they leave behind. At Adventure Aquarium, you will find the

animals below, either modern versions in one of our live animal exhibits or models/skeletons/images in the Dinosaurs of the Deep

exhibit. Match the animals with the picture of their fossil. Seeing a photo or drawing of the animal can also help you figure it out.

Learning more about each animal will help you understand the kind of fossil they would leave behind.

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What is a Dinosaur? Dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates of the Mesozoic Era. Unlike other reptiles, whose limbs splay out beneath

them, dinosaurs walked either on 4 legs with their legs directly beneath their body or upright on 2 legs (like modern birds).

Scientists are still debating whether dinosaurs were cold-blooded or warm-blooded. And dinosaurs were thought to be strictly

terrestrial, but recent discoveries suggest that the largest-known carnivorous dinosaur, Spinosaurus, may also be the

first-known swimming dinosaur!

Chindesaurus Triceratops

What is a Marine Reptile?

Marine reptiles are reptiles which have become adapted for an aquatic or semi-aquatic life in the ocean. During the Mesozoic Era,

while dinosaurs were dominating the land, several groups of reptiles became adapted to life in the seas, including turtles and

crocodiles. Three reptile groups became top predators: Ichthyosaurs, Plesiosaurs and Mosasaurs.

Ichthyosaur Mosasaur

Archelon

(Prehistoric

Sea Turtle)

Dakosaurus

(Prehistoric

Crocodile)

Liopleurodon

Liopleurodon was a 34-foot long short-necked plesiosaur, with a massive head, big mouth

and thick body making it perfectly adapted to attack and kill. “Lio” was the apex predator of

the Jurassic seas. It could produce sudden bursts of speed when hunting, then use its

powerful jaw muscles to drive 4 inch teeth into its prey.

Plesiosaur

The extinction of the dinosaurs and large marine reptiles at the end of the Mesozoic Era favored the rise of other animal species.

On the land, mammals would diversify and flourish, while sharks would become the apex predator of the seas.

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The First Vertebrates

Between 500 and 400 million years ago (mya), life on earth was dominated by prehistoric fish. The Devonian Period (419—359

mya) is often referred to as the “Age of Fishes” because major groups of fish evolved during this time, including sharks.

Prehistoric fish established the template for later vertebrate evolution.

For a quick lesson on vertebrate evolution watch this episode of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos on evolution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZpsVSVRsZk

Here is a scavenger hunt for you to try when you visit Dinosaurs of the Deep.

Older students: See if you can find modern fish with similar shapes and features.

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Orthoceros 450 mya

Look for these fossilized shells

in the floor of the Rotunda.

Time period __________________

Sea Anemone 520 mya

These flower-like animals are

found with clown fish.

Time period __________________

Penguin 60 mya

You will need to step

outside to visit this bird.

Ancient Aquatic Animal Scavenger Hunt Many of the animal species found in Adventure Aquarium first evolved millions of years ago and are still around today. Look for

these animals as you walk around the aquarium. When you find one, place a check in the box next to the picture.

After each animal’s name is when they first appeared millions of years ago (“mya”).

Horseshoe Crab 400 mya

You can touch this ancient

invertebrate during your visit.

Time period __________________

Time period __________________ Time period __________________ Time period __________________

Time period __________________

Hippopotamus 15 mya

She’s easy to find—just head

for Hippo Haven.

Crocodile 225 mya

She spends her day resting in

the Orinoco River exhibit.

Sea Turtle 220 mya

This giant swims with the zebra

and hammerhead sharks.

Shark 360 mya

This apex predator can be

found in several locations.

Frog 200 mya

Hop up to Kid Zone to find this

little guy and his frog friends.

Time period __________________ Time period __________________

BONUS: This one is a little tricky. Find

the fossil of this extinct ancestor of the

octopus and nautilus.

OLDER STUDENTS: Use the Geological Time Chart to

determine which time period each animal first appeared.

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(mya)