Research Requirements Overview

Research 3 Animals

• The star of your poster: a non-avian dinosaur not featured in class
• The co-star or secondary animal:
  • a fossil vertebrate that is not a non-avian dinosaur (for ex, a fish, amphibian, bird, mammal, pterosaur, marine reptile, etc.)
  • lived in the same geologic era as the starring dinosaur
• The supporting cast member:
  • an invertebrate animal fossil
  • lived in the same geologic time period as your main animal

Research your Animals & Geologic Era

Find the following information:

• "profiles" for all three of your animals, including size, shape, and genus  
• information on the biology of all three of your animals, including diet and habitat
• the taxonomic classification of your animals
• the geologic time period in which the animals lived
• a map of the paleogeography of the era
• images of what your three animals are thought to have looked like
• facts about the discovery of the fossil and subsequent discovery
• info on the first person who described the animal and the date it was first described
• 3 additional interesting facts

Keep in mind that one resource may not have all the information you want or need.

Extra Credit Info:

You may also include additional information to earn up extra credit. For example:

• Include extra information and/or extra images that explain more about your animal or write extra facts about one or more of your 3 animals.
• Include an additional animal that was not listed in the instructions or outlines as off limits/reserved.
• Include information about one of the paleontologists or a paleoartist who worked on one or more of your animals.
• You can also earn extra credit by creating your own reconstruction of one or more of the animals you are presenting,  BUT you must submit a short separate report that includes: 1) an image of both your work while it was in progress (not yet finished), 2) your finished work, and 3) a short statement about how you decided what the animal’s appearance would be.

Bibliography:

• Your project requires you to conduct research in and cite at least five sources.
• You will write a properly formatted APA style bibliography with at least five numbered references.
• Each reference should have a short description of what information it provided.
• You need to indicate which sources (must be a minimum of one) you found through Holman Library and indicate whether your source was print or Web for all your sources.
  • You can find that information in the library One Search. Please ask if you'd like help with that.