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GLOSSARY
abyssal plain The floor of the deep ocean, between the continental masses.
acid rain Rain that has a high acidity content due to dissolved gases such as sulphur dioxide.
aerodynamic Having a shape that affects a body’s movement through the air.
archipelago A group of islands, usually in the form of a chain.
atrophy Of an organ, to wither away through disuse.
biped An animal that walks on two legs.
brachiate To swing along tree branches using the arms, as apes do.
browse To eat leaves, c.f. graze.
buoyancy The upward force exerted on a body by a fluid. An animal’s buoyancy determines whether it will sink or swim.
camouflage Coloration or ornamentation of an animal that allows it to be inconspicuous against its background.
canopy The continuous cover of interlocking branches forming the roof of a tropical forest.
carnassial An arrangement of teeth evolved for shearing meat.
Cenozoic The era of geological time from 65 million years ago to the present day.
cephalopod One of a group of shellfish that have tentacles growing from around the mouth. The octopus, squid and extinct ammonites are cephalopods.
cold-blooded Lacking the ability to regulate body temperature. All modern animals are cold-blooded except for the mammals and the birds. The scientific term is poikilothermic. c.f. endothermic.
comet A body made of stone and ice that traces an eliptical orbit around the sun.
communal Of an animal, living as a member of a group, usually with a strict social structure, c.f. gregarious.
coniferous Of a tree or a forest, having cones and needle-shaped leaves.
continental drift The process by which a continent moves slowly over the surface of the Earth through geological time. This term has largely been replaced by the concept of plate tectonics, q.r.
continental shelf The edge of a continent that is covered by shallow sea.
convergent evolution The process whereby unrelated organisms evolve the same shape to allow them to live in similar environments. The european mole and the unrelated marsupial mole of Australia provide a modern example.
creodont A member of an extinct group of bearlike or wolf-like carnivorous mammals.
Cretaceous The final period of the Mesozoic era, 144 to 65 million years ago.
crust The outermost layer of the Earth’s structure, about 40 kilometres (24 m) thick under the continents but only about 10 kilometres (6 m) thick under the oceans.
crustacean A member of a group of invertebrates with jointed legs and a hard shell. The shrimp is a modern example.
deciduous Of a tree or a forest, losing its leaves in the winter and growing new ones the following spring. The oak and ash are deciduous trees.
dextrous Able to use the hands deftly.
digitigrade Walking on the tips of the toes as opposed to the soles of the feet. Antelope and most running animals are digitigrade.
ecology The relationship of an organism to its environment and to the other organisms that live there.
ecosystem An entire community of organisms interacting with one another and their environment.
emergent A particularly large tree in the tropical forest that protrudes beyond the canopy, q. v.
endothermic The ability of an organism to generate heat internally by means of chemical reactions in order to regulate the body temperature.
environment The sum of the conditions surrounding an organism. Such conditions include the climate, the topography, the vegetation and the other living creatures.
equator The latitude that lies mid way between the Earth’s poles. Climates are hot at the equator as the sun is nearly always overhead.
evolution The process by which animals and plants change, from generation to generation, in response to changing environmental conditions.
extinction The dying-out of all members of a particular species.
extraterrestrial Coming from somewhere beyond the Earth. Meteorites are extraterrestrial bodies.
fold mountain A mountain formed during the process of plate tectonics when one plate moves against another and crumples up the rocks and sediments in a series of folds.
fossil Any trace of an ancient animal or a plant preserved in the rocks.
Gondwana The ancient supercontinent of the southern hemisphere that has since broken up to form South America, Africa, India, Australia and Antarctica.
gizzard A cavity situated in front of the stomach in birds and some reptiles, used for breaking up the food before digestion.
granite A type of coarse crystalline rock, rich in silica. The continents, and the islands that were once part of a continent, are made up largely of granitic rock.
graze To eat grass. Special adaptations, such as teeth that resist abrasion and a sophisticated digestive system, are needed for grazing, as opposed to browsing.
greenhouse effect The raising of the temperature at the Earth’s surface due to a change in the composition of the atmosphere. Some gases, such as carbon dioxide and water vapour, trap outgoing radiation like the glass of a greenhouse.
gregarious Of an animal, preferring to live in groups. This differs from communal in that it is not essential for a gregarious animal to be in a group to survive.
hibernate To avoid the harsh winter conditions by running down the body’s systems and sleeping.
horn A tough substance made of keratin – the same material that forms hair – usually produced as a defensive structure.
hydrodynamic Having a shape that affects the body’s movement through water.
ilium The rear bone of the hip structure, to which the backbone is attached.
indigenous Of an animal, the original inhabitant of an area.
infrared Light radiation of a frequency too long to be detected by the human eye. Heat is radiated by means of infrared waves.
insulation A substance that protects a body from extreme heat or cold.
invertebrate An animal that has no backbone. The vast majority of living animals are invertebrates.
ischium The lower bone of the hip structure.
isotope A form of an atom that differs from other atoms of the same element, in having a different number of particles in the nucleus.
isthmus A narrow neck of land joining two broad land areas.
Jurassic The second period of the Mesozoic era, from 213 to 144 million years ago.
juvenile The young of any animal that has not reached a breeding age.
kidney An organ that filters waste products from the blood.
latitude Distance measured in degrees north and south of the equator.
Laurasia The ancient supercontinent of the northern hemisphere that has since formed North America, Europe and most of Asia.
lichen A low-growing plant that consists of an assemblage of algae and fungi cells.
mammal-like reptiles A group of reptiles that were very important in Permian times, but then declined and died out. The mammals evolved from them.
mantle The silica-rich layer that constitutes the bulk of the Earth’s structure. It lies between the crust and the core.
membrane A thin sheet of living tissue.
Mesozoic The era of geological time comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, between 248 and 65 million years ago.
metabolism The chemical reactions that take place in a living creature.
meteorite A piece of rock drifting in space or fallen to Earth from space.
migration Movement of animals from one area to another in response to changing conditions.
monsoon The type of climate found in south-east Asia in which warm wet winds are drawn in from the Indian Ocean in summer, and dry winds blow out from the interior in winter.
nectar Sugar-based substance produced in flowers to entice insects to feed, and so pollinate the flower.
oceanic ridge A volcanic ridge found throughout the oceans of the world, produced as new material rises to the Earth’s surface through the process of plate tectonics.
oceanic trench A particularly deep trough on the ocean floor, usually off continental margins with extensive fold mountains or along volcanic archipelagoes. They are produced by the movements of plate tectonics and mark the plate boundaries where one plate is being drawn down and destroved beneath another.
opposable Of a finger, able to be folded over the palm of the hand to meet the tip of another finger.
organ A structure within a living body with a particular function.
palaeogeography The study of landforms, coastlines and continental position in past geological times.
palaeontology The study of ancient animals and fossils.
Palaeozoic The era of geological time from 590 to 248 million years ago.
pampas The open grasslands of South America.
Pangaea The ancient supercontinent that comprised all the continental masses of the Earth.
Panthalassa An ancient ocean that covered all the Earth not covered by the supercontinent Pangaea.
parallel evolution The independent development of similar features in related animals through similar stages. The development of sea lions from bear-like carnivores and of seals from otter-like carnivores is an example.
parasite A creature that lives on another, gaining nourishment from it and usually harming it.
patagia Flaps of skin that form a wing in gliding animals.
peninsula An area of land surrounded on three sides by water.
Permian The final period of the Palaeozoic era, from 286 to 248 million years ago.
pheronome A chemical secreted by a creature that affects the behaviour of another.
physiology The study of the functions of an organism.
plankton Living things, plant or animal, that drift passively in the sea.
plantigrade Walking on the soles of the feet rather than the toes.
plate tectonics The large scale movement of the surface layers of the Earth: The crust and the topmost layer of the mantle form several distinct plates are continually being created along one seam – at the oceanic ridges – and being destroyed along another – at the oceanic trenches.
prairie Open grasslands in North America.
predator A meat-eating animal that actively hunts others.
prevailing wind The wind that most often blows in a particular area.
pubis The front bone of the hip structure. The shape and arrangement of the pubis is important in dinosaur classification.
scale A small plate in the skin of a fish or a reptile. It may be made of keratin – the same substance as hair – or of dentine – the same substance as teeth.
scavenger A carnivorous animal that eats meat that has already been killed.
secondary development In evolution, the re-evolution of a feature that has already been lost in a creature’s ancestors.
sediment Any material, such as mud or sand, deposited by natural processes on the sea floor or the bed of a river.
sensory To do with the senses.
shelf sea A relatively shallow sea covering the continental shelf.
soar To fly at great heights using rising currents of air.
specialization A feature that develops in an organism to help it to adapt to a particular environment or way of life.
species A particular type of creature. Members of the same species can breed with one another, while members of different species cannot.
steppe Open grassland in central Asia.
stereoscopic The condition in which both eyes can be directed on to the same object and used to judge distances accurately.
stop-motion animation A technique used in the cinema, in which a model is moved into different positions and each successive position photographed on a separate frame of film. When projected, it seems that the model is moving of its own accord.
supercontinent A very large continent produced by the uniting of several smaller continents.
terrestrial Living on the ground.
Tertiary The period of geological time comprising most of the Cenozoic era, from 65 to 1.7 million years ago.
Tethys An arm of the Panthalassa ocean that once divided the supercontinents of Laurasia and Gondwana.
topography The study of the landforms of a region.
Triassic The first period of the Mesozoic era, 248 to 213 million years ago.
tropics The two lines, 23.5° north and south of the equator making the northernmost and southernmost limit of the movement of the sun during the year. The term may also refer to the area of the Earth’s surface between.
tundra A region of open land in the cold regions of the Earth that is frozen in winter but thaws to a marsh in the summer.
ultra-violet Light radiation at a frequency too high to be detected by the human eye.
upwelling An oceanic current that brings cold water from the oceanic deeps to the surface.
venomous Poisonous.
vertebrate An animal with a backbone. Fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals are vertebrates.
vestigial Of an organ, present only as a trace. Humans have vestigial tails.
zoogeography The study of the distribution of animal life and the historical and ecological factors involved.
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
THE GREAT EXTINCTION 6
WHAT IS A DINOSAUR? 10
THE NEW TREE OF LIFE 12
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY 16
ZOOGEOGRAPHY 18
THE HABITATS 20
THE NEW DINOSAURS 29
THE ETHIOPIAN REALM 30
THE PALAEARCTIC REALM 42
THE NEARCTIC REALM 54
THE NEOTROPICAL REALM 66
THE ORIENTAL REALM 78
THE AUSTRALASIAN REALM 88
THE OCEANS 100
CONCLUSION 108
AFTERWORD 109
GLOSSARY 113
FURTHER READING 115
INDEX 116
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 120