Science For Thought - Vol 4 (2018) - No.3 Dinasaurs

The Evolution of Dinosaurs
Origin of Humans and
Paleolithic Societies

Primitive Aquatic Animals
Giant Prehistoric Insects

Fun Facts

SCIENCE F O R
THOUGHT

 Volume 4
Edition 2
May-June 2018

!

For more: Hi there! Welcome back YSF readers to YSF’s
second edition of newsletter for 2018. It is a
!
pleasure to have the chance to coordinate and
@ptetysf work with the YSF’s 2018 editorial team. As to
that, we have managed to produce the second
@ptetysf edition of Science For Thought’s issue for this
month, and I am pleased with the outcome of
@ptetysf what my team and I had endlessly worked for
throughout the month of June. And having the
!
theme for this month’s newsletter to be
ptetyouthscienceforum prehistoric, we find that the theme itself is rather
both interesting and educational for all students.

Due to the complications we faced during the
month of June such as the reduction of

schooling hours because of the fasting month
and the long school holidays, we did not

managed to release our newsletter as early as it
should be and for that I sincerely apologize.
Thank you for staying in touch with YSF and
enjoy our latest YSF’s newsletter edition.

Mohd Ali Khattab B. Hj Mohd Jamalul-Lail
Vice President II

!!
!

EVOLUTION OF DINOSAURS

Article By: Allen Stuart Wong &
Muhammad Hasbul Amirul Hakim Bin
Abdul Warith

PERMIAN PERIOD

Dinosaurs are the well-known diversed groups of reptiles
that most of us have admired since childhood. But how did

dinosaurs originate? To answer that question, we will
need to take a step back in time 290 million years ago where

bizarre-looking animals dominated life on land and sea.
This is known as the Permian Period, where dinosaurs did
not exist yet. This era would later be faced and ended with
the largest mass extinction Earth has ever experienced,

wiping out 90% of all species on the planet. This mass
extinction was named the Permian Triassic extinction and
is also known as the Great Dying. Two notable species that
survived the mass extinction were the Therapsids and the

Archosaurs.

!
!
!!

!
!
!
!
!

Mesozoic Era (Triassic Period)

! ! !
! !
After the Permian Period came the !!
Mesozoic era which is further divided !
into three periods namely, Triassic,

Jurassic and Cretaceous Period.
During the early Triassic Period, the
Therapsids were nearly wiped out,

but that did not stop them from
dominating the new era.

The Lystrosaurus was one of the During the Triassic Period, the
remaining species of therapsids to Archosaurs had drastically changed

survive the mass extinction. in order to keep up with the
Lystrosauruses were able to survive competition with the therapsids.
the harsh environment of the Great
Dying as they could hide underground One of the drastic changes included
to avoid the atmospheric changes. the development of wings in the

They were able to use their tusks to making of the Pterosaur. Archosaurs
access nutrients found in plant roots. changed from sprawling, lizard-like
Within the early Triassic Period, the animals to animals that walked with
their legs held directly under their
therapsids started developing fur,
warm blood, milk, whiskers, etc. This bodies. They also adapted to
eventually led to them evolving into bipedalism where they walk on two
legs instead of four. At this point, the
what we now know today as Archosaurs have evolved into what
mammals.
we now know as the dinosaurs.

The bipedalism that the dinosaurs
have now adapted has some

advantages to their lifestyles. One
advantage is the ability to raise their

head, allowing for a wider range of

vision in a grassland environment.

During the late Triassic Period, the

path of dinosaur evolution came into

a much sharper focus, as the very

first dinosaurs slowly radiated into

! the Sauropods, Tyrannosaurs and
! Raptors that we all know and love
!
! today.

!

Dinosaurs are often categorized as
lizard-hipped (Saurischians) or bird-

hipped (Ornithiscians). The
difference between these two types

of dinosaurs is in the pubis bone,

which is a part of the hip bone. The
pubis in Saurischians points forward,
while the pubis in Ornithiscians points

backwards.

Interestingly, birds seemed to have !
descended from the Saurischians, !
despite having a hip structure more !
similar to the Ornithiscians. Some !
!
notable lizard-hipped dinosaurs !
include T-Rex, Apatosaurus, and !
Allosaurus. On the other hand, !
examples of bird-hipped dinosaurs !
include Iguanadon, Triceratops, and !
!
Stegosaurus. !
! !
!
At the end of the Triassic Period, !
another mass extinction occurred !
(the second largest mass extinction !
to ever occur), exterminating most !
of the therapsids, allowing the early !
dinosaurs to begin diversifying and !
distributing themselves all around !
the Earth, thus beginning the Jurassic !
Period (208-145 million years ago), !
also known as the Golden Age of the !

Dinosaurs.
!

!
!
!
!
!

Mesozoic Era (Jurassic Period)

!

The temperate climate of the !
Jurassic Period was perfect for the !
!
biggest of the dinosaurs, the
Sauropods, to begin evolving. The !
!
earliest Sauropods began showing !
changes in their skeletal structure to !
!
accommodate their heavy bodies. !
!
Some of these Sauropods feasted !
upon the high vegetation, for

instance, the Brachiosaurus adapted

to this by having extended front legs

and a much longer neck, while

others such as the Diplodocus grazed

on the lower vegetation. Alongside

the Sauropods came the other

herbivores who evolved from the

Ornithischian line, including the

famous plated dinosaurs known as

the Stegosaurs.

!
!

! As for the Theropods (carnivorous
! dinosaurs), they too grew in size,
!
! with some reaching lengths of up to
12 metres long. However, not all of

the Theropods grew to be mind

bogglingly huge. There were still

some that were quite small, such as

the Compsognathus, which grew to

about the size of a turkey.

Around the late Jurassic Period, a

minor mass extinction occurred (The

Jurassic-Cretaceous Extinction).

Only Stegasauroids and some

Sauropoids died out on land. Not a lot

! was lost during this mass extinction,
! it was barely noticeable.

!

!
!

Mesozoic era (Cretaceous Period)

!!

The Cretaceous Period (65-145
million years ago) was a period when
dinosaurs evolved new features to

adapt to their surroundings.

The Theropods grew larger than they ! The Dromaeosaurs, more commonly
have ever before. These new ! known as the raptors, were pack
powerhouses were the apex !
predators in their respective ! hunters and hunted prey many times
! their size. To be able to accomplish
environment. A good example of this ! such a feat, they adapted by having a
would be the famous Tyrannosaurus !
Rex. It shared its territory with some ! sickled claw on their feet, which
! allowed them to cling onto their prey
of the more well armed herbivores ! much better. Their bodies were also
around, those being the Triceratops, ! much smaller and lighter, with longer
! limbs allowing them to get a better
the Ankylosaurus, as well as the !
Hadrosaurs. To counter possible ! grip and leap onto their prey.
!
competition, the T-Rex had an ! Then, there were the Piscivores (fish
extremely strong jaw, capable of ! eaters). The most well-known of
crushing bone, allowing it to deliver a these are the Baryonyx and the
quicker, deadlier blow to its prey.
However, much like in the Jurassic Spinosaurus. To allow them to hunt
Period, not all the Theropods grew to fish better, they had longer arms with
long claws, as well as a crocodile-like
be giant killers. snout. These features allowed them
!
to hunt fish much more effectively.
! However, by the end of the
! Cretaceous Period, the

! environmental changes affected
! them drastically, leading them to
!
! their demise.
!
!

!
!
!
!
!

The herbivores, as previously !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Some theories on what happened
mentioned, developed horns and includes:
armor, although their main purpose
!

may have been for display rather than ! !
!
for defense. This can be seen ! • A big meteorite crashed into
! Earth, changing the climatic
amongst the Ceratopsians and the !
Ankylosaurs. The Sauropods ! conditions so dramatically that
dinosaurs could not survive.
continued to grow as the largest of
the Sauropods emerged during this

period such as Argentinosaurus. ! • Ash and gas spewing from

! ! volcanoes suffocated many of
!
! the dinosaurs.
! • Diseases wiped out entire

populations of dinosaurs.

! • ! Food chain imbalances led to
the starvation of the dinosaurs.

Aside from that, the Hadrosaurs, or Now, one may think that was the end
duck billed dinosaurs, rose to for the dinosaurs. Well, they are

prominence. Some of them had actually still around and living to this
hollow crests that may have acted day! They are the birds that

like a "trombone", perhaps for descended from the Theropods,
alongside the T-rex and the
communication, which is seen in the Velociraptors.
Parasaurolophus.
!

The Cretaceous-Paleogene
extinction event marked the time

when the age of the dinosaurs
ended. It happened approximately

66 million years ago, wiping out

3/!4 of the plant and animal
spec! ies on Earth, making it the
third!largest mass-extinction to

! ever occur.
!

GIANT PREHISTORIC INSECTS

Article By: Sharifah Yura Mona Mas Rahayu Binti Abdullah
Yura Ulmateen

!

!

If insects make you squeamish, just The first theory is related to the
be glad that giant insects no longer atmosphere they existed in, that is
during the Pennsylvanian Epoch of the
exist. Carboniferous Period. Around this time,
there were much higher levels of oxygen
Giant insects existed in the Paleozoic in the atmosphere which were about 31
Era (“Ancient Life") around 245 to to 34 percent (that is almost double the
18 to 21 percent of atmospheric oxygen
300 million years ago, before the first
dinosaurs were thought to have that we have now).
existed.
The size of insects is constrained by
Scientists have found fossils of such oxygen levels in the air; meaning the
insects that are related to higher the percentage of oxygen, the
dragonflies, which was the larger these creatures can theoretically

Meganeura that has the wingspan grow to be.
that reached up to 65 centimetres
long. For reference, that is slightly Another convincing piece of evidence
longer than the wingspan of a hawk, for this theory is that the rise and fall of
which is roughly 61 centimetres. For oxygen levels in this period correlates to
further comparison, the wingspan of
the largest modern day dragonflies the evolution and extinction of these
giant insects.
ever recorded reached only 19
centimetres, showing that these As for other reasons, there is a working
giant insects were monstrous in size. theory that these insects did not fall
prey to other animals, and therefore
However, a few questions remain: were allowed to prosper in the
what caused this insect gigantism? beginning. Over time, dinosaurs began
to evolve into creatures that were like
Why do they not exist anymore? our modern day birds and the giant

! insects finally had predators to fear. The
belief is that the rise of birds brought
about the extinction of these insects.

Nevertheless, both theories are still
being reviewed, though the prior is more
widely accepted, and scientists continue

their research into these prehistoric
insects.

!

THE ORIGINS OF HUMANS AND PALEOLITHIC SOCIETIES

Article By: Aaron Danyl Wong

!

Anatomically modern human beings have It wasn’t until 100,000 years ago that the
been on this planet for roughly 200,000 Homo Sapiens left Africa and crossed Eurasia.
years. Although this occupies a small portion
of the planet’s 4 billion years of life, it is still an They then began to spread into Europe and
incredibly long amount of time. Hence, there Asia. From Asia, humans crossed the Bering
is a profound number of events that have
occurred over the past 200,000 years. land bridge and eventually migrated into
North and South America. It is likely that a
Homo Sapiens are part of a group called resource disaster in their regions forced the
hominids, which were the earliest humanlike
early humans to migrate from Africa. A
creatures. Five million years ago, the combination of ingenuity, luck, tools and
creatures that would come to evolve into language made humans the only known
hominids were called arboreal simians, which species to have ever successfully migrated
were tree-dwelling creatures that knuckle- and populated. In fact, Homo Sapiens are the
walked. Scientists hypothesized that there only known hominids to have survived.
was a change in the climate that led to trees
becoming less prevalent in the part of Africa Although Homo Sapiens have not developed
where these human ancestors were found. anatomically over the past years, they have
These changes may have adapted them to live undergone a massive cultural evolution. The
on the ground and walk upright instead of
early humans developed a capacity for
climbing. language about 50,000 years ago. This
allowed early human beings to communicate
Hominids continued to evolve and increase with each other and form small complex social
their brain capacities. Approximately 2.3 groups. Humans typically lived in small groups
million years ago, a hominid known as Homo and hunted and foraged for food. The
Habilis began to make and use simple tools. community would then distribute their
About a million years ago, a hominid species resources evenly among their members. Also,
known as Homo Erectus discovered how to different groups of people interacted with one
create stone tools and use fire. Homo Sapiens, another and exchanged technologies and
ideas. It is likely that humans have survived
the first anatomically modern humans,
evolved from their early hominid this long because they were able to
communicate effectively with each other and
predecessors between 200,000 and
300,000 years ago. hence, migrate more successfully than the
other hominid species.

PRIMITIVE AQUATIC ANIMALS

Article By: Aiman Hamdani & Lilly Afiqah

!
!!

Did you know that only 5% of the ocean has been discovered? Much
remains to be learned from exploring the mysteries of the deep blue ocean.

Prehistorically, there were various species of sea life including large
ferocious beasts that used to venture the depths of our very oceans. Most

of these species had already gone extinct about 60 million years ago.

LIVYATAN MELVILLEI

!

BASILOSAURUS
KRONOSAURUS

LIOPLEURODON

CHARCHARODON
MEGALODON

CHARCHARODON MEGALODONS

! !
!
! Recently, the largest verifiable
! Megalodon tooth is a 7.48 inch tooth
!
! found near Ocucaje, Peru.
! Reconstructions of the
!
! C. Megalodon’s jaw suggested that
! it may have been up to 7 feet long.
!
! Since this species of shark was
! gigantic, they obviously required
!
! massive amounts of food, it is
estimated that an adult C. Megalodon
! consumed over a ton of food daily to

Charcarodon Megalodons were sustain itself.
probably the largest and most
dangerous predators that used to Fossil evidence point to the
roam the seas. Fortunately, this conclusion that C. Megalodons
species of shark had already gone preyed on other large mammals such
extinct around 2.6 to 23 million years as whales, dolphins and giant sea
ago. Studies have shown that turtles. There are several factors that
C. Megalodon teeth were found in contribute to the extinction of the
Africa, North and South America, C. Megalodon, one of which is the
India, Australia, Japan, and Europe - competition for food. The emergence
this suggests that they thrived in the of new predators increased the
competition for the C. Megalodons as
Earth’s warmer waters. The the diversity of prey declined.
C. Megalodon was famously known Besides that, global climate change
made the seas cooler, causing sea
for its immense size. Research levels to drop and eventually lead to
showed that this species of shark the loss of the C. Megalodons’
could reach a total of 18 metres in breeding grounds. Hence, leading
length and weighed approximately
60 tons at most. This makes the them to go into extinction.
C. Megalodon nearly 3 times longer !

and 20 times heavier than the
modern Great White Shark.

Moreover, studies showed that an
average adult C. Megalodon could
possess teeth of about 7.1 inch in

slant height.
!

! LIOPLEURODON

!

Liopleurodon is a carnivorous marine !
reptile of the genus Pliosaurs that !
existed from the Middle to Late !
Jurassic period, approximately 153 !
to 162 million years ago. Its name
Four-flipper mode of propulsion is a
translates to “smooth-sided teeth” in common characteristic for all

Greek. The Liopleurodon’s size was Pliosaurs. As for Liopleurodons, their
greatly exaggerated: in 1999, in a four strong paddle-like limbs
BBC television series, “Walking with
Dinosaurs”, its length was estimated suggested that they were powerful
to be about 25 metres but in fact, it swimmers and these limbs provided
was approximately 6 metres long
according to fossil records. One of them excellent acceleration - a
desirable trait for an ambush
the largest Liopleurodon was predator. In addition, studies of
estimated to have grown up to 7 Liopleurodons’ skulls indicated that
they could probably scan the water
metres with a body mass of to ascertain the source of specific
approximately 1.6 tons. smells. Fossils of Liopleurodons were
! mainly found in England and France –
this therefore suggests that they
used to reside in the depths of
European seas. This genus of
Plesiosaurs became extinct during
the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction
in which a sudden mass of extinction
of some three-quarter species of
animals and plants on Earth took

place.

KRONOSAURUS

!

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!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!

!
!

One of the largest marine reptiles to Kronosauruses were most likely fast
have ever existed is the Kronosaurus. swimmers, considering the powerful

It is believed that this creature swimming muscles they adopted.
existed over 145 million years ago. The teeth of a Kronosaurus can
On average, a Kronosaurus can grow
exceed 7 centimetres in length - the
to a length of 9 to 10.5 metres long
and can weigh over 11 tons. largest being 30 centimetres in
length and 12 centimetres crowns.
According to paleontologists, a
Kronosaurus has an elongated head However, their teeth lacked the
cutting edges and the distinct
with a short neck along with four trihedral of a Liopleurodon’s teeth,
flippers on its body that ends with a leading to the belief that it was on
short tail. Kronosauruses, along with top of the food chain. Remains of
other pliosaurs (marine reptiles), had Kronosauruses were found in
pelvic girdles that allowed them to go
Australia and Colombia.
against the friction of water. In
between their two limb girdles laid a !
!
mesh of belly ribs that provided
additional support and strength.

!
!
!
!

LIVYATAN MELVILLEI

Next in line is Livyatan Melvillei, which !
was a reminiscent of the !

contemporary sperm whale and !
existed around 12 million years ago.
It is one of the largest predators to Livyatan Melvillei had functional
teeth on both of its jaws unlike the
have ever lived. Weighing up to 63 modern sperm whale. Another fact
tons, this beast could be as long as about Livyatan Melvillei is that its diet
17.5 metres. However, only its head consisted of seals, dolphins and even
was ever discovered so the rest of other whales. One of the first fossils
the features of Livyatan Melvillei are were discovered in the sediments of
Pisco Formation, the coastal desert
just assumptions made up by of Peru. It is yet to be confirmed but
paleontologists. Their skulls can be
measured up to 3 metres long and the drastic change in ocean
they were also claimed to have the temperature in the past is most likely

largest teeth of any animal yet, the cause of its extinction.
known with the largest tooth being
!
36.2 centimetres in height.

!

!
!

BASILOSAURUS

! The front flippers of this whale
! contained elbow joints that are
! usually seen in seals, its back flippers
! were believed to have been used for
! having extra grip onto its mate. This
! whale had a bite force of about 1,700
! Newton according to the scarred
! bones of another prehistoric whale,
! Dorudon. Remains of Basilosaurus
!
! were found in Egypt and Jordan.
!
!
!
!
!

Last but not least, the Basilosaurus
(also known as King Lizard) was an

animal that was considered as a
marine reptile but was soon found
out to be mammalian. It inhabited
Earth about 35-40 million years ago.
A Basilosaurus has a long eel-like
body which could measure up to 15-
18 metres long and could weigh up to

50 tons.

!
!

The creatures mentioned in this article are probably only one of a
thousand of the number of prehistoric marine animals that

existed. Who knows, there could be hundreds or even thousands
of other extinct aquatic creatures that are yet to be discovered.

!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!

CRITIC REVIEWS

They’re certainly trying to be witty — to create cascading, Rube Goldberg-esque
catastrophes. But the movie plays like a strenuous imitation of Steven Spielberg
instead of the real deal.

David Edelstein
Vulture

The fifth entry in the "Jurassic" series, and the first that plays less like a thunder-
lizard spectacular than like a '70s disaster movie run amok.

Owen Gleiberman
Variety

The movie takes place three years after the violent escape of dinosaurs on the
island home of the Jurassic World theme park, which humans quickly
abandoned.

Travis Andrews
Washington Post

‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ excels when it allows the real stars – the CGI
dinosaurs – to shine, and roar louder than most of their predecessors.

Neil Soans
Times of India

Compiled by: Syncletia Vincent

FUN FACTS

BY: AZRUL

The name Dinosaur literally :
means "terrible lizard" in
Greek.

However, dinosaurs aren't lizards and not all
are "terrible".
For example, small plant-eating dinosaurs are
about as "terrible" as today's sheep!

Early plant-eating dinosaurs :
did not eat fruits or grass.

This is simply because there weren't any as they hadn't appeared
yet at the time.
Instead, the dinosaurs ate plants such as horsetails, ferns and
conifer trees.

Fossils are preserved much better in the sea than on land or
underground.
Therefore, prehistoric sea-life are much more well-known.

It is very rare for an animal to be fossilized.
Most either rot away or are eaten after they die.

The largest animal that has ever
inhabited earth is still alive today
- the blue whale

Most dinosaurs, according to paleontologists, had long
tails because they help to keep their balance when
running.

Many of the toughest carnivorous dinosaurs had hollow
bones. Which may explain why some can run surprisingly
fast despite their large size.

Although no one can be sure about how long a dinosaur's
lifespan can be, some scientists speculate the lifespan to be as
long as about 200 years.

THE CHEMISTRY OF THE WORLD CUP

THE BALL THE TROPHY

HH H 18-KARAT GOLD

N RNCOROC N R MALACHITE BASE

OO n 6.1 kilograms, 36.8 centimetres high
POLYURETHANE
The World Cup trophy is made of gold, though it is
R represents variable portions of the polyurethane hollow; if it were solid, it would be too heavy to lift!

The World Cup ball is made from six polyurethane The green base is made of malachite, which is a
panels which are thermally bonded together. copper carbonate hydroxide mineral.

Underneath this is a nylon lining, then the butyl
rubber bladder which contains the air.

THE SHIRTS THE VANISHING SPRAY

OO HHHH

H C C C C H BUTANE

OO HHHH approx. 17%

POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE n approx. approx. ? approx.
80% 1% 2%
a type of polyester
WATER SURFACTANTS OTHER

Football shirts are commonly made from The spray referees use as a temporary marker
polyesters. Elastane (also known as lycra) can be contains butane, which expands when released
incorporated to give strength and elasticity. Names from the can. Surfactants help create foam, which
and numbers are usually made of polyurethane.
disappears as the butane evaporates.

Ci © Andy Brunning/Compound Interest 2018 - www.compoundchem.com | Twitter: @compoundchem | FB: www.facebook.com/compoundchem BY NC ND
This graphic is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence.