Palaeontology

Palaeontology (in case you were wondering) is the study of prehistoric life.

Fossil collector, born in 1799 in Lyme Regis, Dorset: recognised in 2010 as one of the ten most important women in the history of science

Dinosaur means		Terrible lizard
Dinosaurs lived (million years ago)		210 – 150
Geological period that dinosaurs lived in		Jurassic
Geological period in which the dinosaurs disappeared		Cretaceous

Brontosaurus: now more correctly called			Apatosaurus
Link between reptiles and birds – had teeth, claws and a bony tail, but also had feathers; first discovered in Germany in 1860			Archaeopteryx
A specimen of fossilised dung is known as a			Coprolite
Common folkloric name for fossils of Gryphaea – a genus of extinct oysters			Devil's toenails
Dutch town near which important fossil remains were discovered in 1764			Maastricht
Distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock in the western United States: the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America			Morrison Formation
The earliest vertebrates known to have been capable of flight: first discovered in Italy, 1784			Pterosaur (a.k.a. pterodactyl)
Genus of dinosaurs, whose name means 'swift robber'			Velociraptor(s)