NATS 1540 Study Guide - Final Guide: Deccan Traps, Saurischia, Apatite
Document Summary
The complete dinosaur skeletons unearthed at bernissart showed vividly that owen"s model of dinosaurs such as iguanodon was incorrect. As mantell suspected, the front limbs were not as large and strong as the back legs and the animal had a massive tail, so its proportions more closely resembled that of a giant kangaroo. The new skeletal restoration, and the process which it arrived at, are particularly revealing because they show the influence of contemporary ideas concerning the appearance and affinity of dinosaurs. Owen"s elephantine reptile vision of the dinosaur had been questioned as early as. 1859, by some incomplete dinosaur discoveries made in new jersey (usa) and studied by. Joseph leidy, a man of equivalent scientific stature to owen. By the late 1860s, new discoveries had been made that added to the debate over the relationships of dinosaurs to other animals. The first skeleton of the earliest well-preserved fossil bird. Archaeopteryx (ancient wing) had been discovered in southern germany.
