Sample Poster

Details Instructions for Posters: What You Should Include 

Geologic Time Period

Information about the Geologic Time Period in which all of your animals lived (or the Geologic Era, if it lived in the Cenozoic)

• Give the official name of the geologic time period (or era) and the dates that this era began and when it ended.
• Include a map that shows the paleogeography (how the continents were arrange) when your main animal lived.  This map could be the same as the map you submitted in your Poster Outline #4 or it could be a full-color image from another source.

Images - a minimum of 4 in total

• For your main animal, you must include at least 2 images:
  • ONE (1) image that shows the full shape of their skeleton, with information on which bones have been found. If only a few bones/teeth have been found, then you can show a picture of these bones next to an image of a skeleton of a closely related genus as long as you name the other genus.),
  • & ONE (1) image of the reconstructed body shape and their size (the size may be said in caption)
• For your co-star you need ONE (1) image the shows the shape & size of their body or skeleton.
• For your supporting animal, you need ONE (1) image that shows the shape & size of their body.

Important: All images must have a caption that includes:

• the name of the genus shown and source of the image.
• Images may be copied from a website or a print source- as long as you properly acknowledge the source of the image,
• OR you can earn extra credit by creating your own reconstruction (see extra credit instructions below). 

Starring Animal

For your MAIN/STARRING ANIMAL you should include the following:

• Two images (as described above) 
• The full name of the person (or persons) who DESCRIBED the animal & date it was 1st described
  • Note: this may be different from who/when the animal was discovered
  • Also note: If you cannot find the full 1st names, then you can use first initials and surname.
• Basic Biological Details including Descriptions of:
  • Its Diet = Carnivore, Omnivore, or Herbivore
  • Its Habitat = Terrestrial, Aerial, Aquatic or Semi-aquatic/semi-terrestrial
• Its Taxonomic classification: 
  • State whether it an Ornithischia or Saurischia dinosaur
  • State which major SUBORDER it belongs to (see names & diagram on p. 4)
  • Describe at least 1 diagnostic feature of its suborder as discussed in class
  • Explain which suborder(s) is/are the closest sister group to the suborder of your dinosaurs
• THREE Other Interesting Facts about your main animal’s biology or its discovery.
  • Important Note: Facts about how the animal appears in popular culture (ex. How Velociraptor looked Jurassic Park) will not count for credit here.

• A Paleobiology Data Base MAP that shows the published location(s) WHERE it has been found with a caption that stated NUMBER of locations the fossil has been found (= “collections”) and how many have been found (= “occurrences”)​​​

Co-Starring Animal

For your co-starring/second vertebrate, you should include:

• ONE (1) image as described in the Images section above
• The Names of the people who DESCRIBED the animal & the Date it was 1st described
• Basic Biological Details including:
  • Their Diet = Carnivore, Omnivore, or Herbivore
  • & Habitat = Terrestrial, Aerial, Aquatic or Semi-aquatic/semi-terrestrial
• Their Taxonomic classification = say which category (old-style taxonomic “class”) the animal belongs to (fish, amphibian, reptile, bird, mammal, or mammal-like reptile)
• One Other Interesting Fact about your main animal’s biology or its discovery.
• A Paleobiology Data Base map that shows the:
  • published location(s) WHERE it has been found with a caption that stated NUMBER of locations the fossil has been found (= “collections”)
  • how many have been found (= “occurrences”)

Supporting Animal/ Fossil Invertebrate

For your supporting cast member/invertebrate fossil, you should include:

• One (1) image - following guidelines above
• Basic Biological Details including:
  • Their Diet = ex. Carnivore, Omnivore, Herbivore, or Filter Feeder
  • & Habitat = Terrestrial, Aerial, Aquatic or Semi-aquatic/semi-terrestrial
• The animal's Taxonomic PHYLUM and at least one characteristic shared by the phylum that was covered in class.
• Number of LOCATIONS for the fossil that have been published (= collections) in the Paleobiology Database.
• Optional Extra Credit = Additional facts about the animal’s biology or discovery including:
  • the names of the people who DESCRIBED this animal
  • the DATE it was described
  • or a MAP of its published locations from the Paleobiology Database.

Annotated Bibliography

You should include a Properly Formatted Annotated Bibliography that includes at least: 

• Five (5) NUMBERED references
• Each source should include a short description of what information it provided.
• Each source should specify if was a print or digital source 
• At least one (1) of your sources must be from the Holman Library collection (online or print).
  • List Holman Library source(s) first.
  • Include the location of the source - a "call number" if it was a print source or the database name and permanent link for digital sources. 

See examples of formatting and descriptions on the following page. Your Poster Bibliography may be submitted in 2 places: On the poster and in a separate assignment on Canvas.  (Properly formatted extra references can earn up to 5 points extra credit (1/3 point per references)

Possible Ways to Earn up to 25 points Extra Credit:

You may also include additional information to earn up extra credit. Ways to earn extra credit are mentioned in the above instructions and also include:

• Include extra information: extra images that explain more about your animal or 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 paleontologist or a paleoartist who worked on one or more of your animals.
• Extra references can earn up to +2 points (= +1/2 for every 2 extra properly formatted reference).
• 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.

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  Click on each part of the poster to see a larger image.

Formatting of the Poster:

• All text in your poster should be typed unless it is part of the artwork you email me to ask for and have received back special permission to write in information by hand.
• All information on the poster must be written in your own words. Posters will not receive credit if they contain sentences directly copy from another source, unless that source if full references!
• All images must have captions that contain a brief explanation of what the image shows AND references the source for the image (if you created the image, then you need to reference yourself)

File formats allowed:

You may use any file format that displays properly in Canvas.  See separate instructions for how to load embed and load large images. You should be able to use MS Word or PowerPoint, but if you have large images, may need to say your work as a PDF or JPEG file and upload it in that format. Do not wait until the last minute to submit as you may encounter problems uploading files at 1st.