Protobird

High school (ages 12+)
Animals & Nature

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/protobird

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the informal designation?'Protobird' refers to extinct non-avian dinosaurs exhibiting significant avian characteristics
2. What is the key morphological traits?Feathers (including pennaceous types), furcula, adaptations for flight, and potentially keeled sterna
3. Why do scientists call some dinosaurs "protobirds"?Scientists use the term because these dinosaurs had many bird-like traits, such as feathers, a furcula, and sometimes a keeled sternum. It shows the gradual change from dinosaurs to modern birds.
4. Where have scientists found protobird fossils?Many protobird fossils have been found in places like the Jehol Biota in China. The special rocks there kept the animals very well preserved.

Taxa: A group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit.
Phylogenetic: Relating to the evolutionary development and diversification of a species or group of organisms.
Lagerstätten: Geological sites with an abundant fossil record, with exceptional preservation of a variety of organisms.
Theropod Dinosaurs: A group of bipedal, mostly carnivorous dinosaurs that includes the ancestors of birds.