Glossary F
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FABROSAURUS
(pronounced FAB-roh-SAWR-us) Fabrosaurus is only known from an incomplete
lower jaw found in Lesotho, South Africa in 1964 by Leonard Ginsburg.
Fabrosaurus is very similar to and perhaps the same as Lesothosaurus,
and was a very early ornithopod, a small, fast, bipedal plant eater. It
lived during the early Jurassic Period, about 208-194 million years ago.
Fabrosaurus is a dubious genus.
FAMILY
In classification, a family is a group of related or similar organisms.
A family contains one or more genera (plural of genus). A group of similar
families forms an order.
FEMUR
The femur is the thigh bone - the long bone in the upper part of the leg
between the hip and the knee.
FENESTRA
A fenestra is a natural hole or opening in a bone. The skull has many
fenestra.
FENESTROSAURUS
(pronounced fen-EST-roh-SAWR-us) Fenestrosaurus (meaning: "window
lizard") is an invalid name for Oviraptor. Fenestrosaurus was named
by paleontologist H. Osborn in 1924. It was a theropod dinosaur with a
parrot-like head, toothless beak, long fingers, and long legs.
Fern
This is the name for a group of low growing woody plants that appeared
during the Devonian period, approximately 400 million years ago. Requiring
water as part of their reproductive cycle they have diversified greatly
since then and are a successful plant group today.
Fish
Cold-blooded, gill-breathing, aquatic vertebrates possessing jaws and
fins. Living fishes can be divided into two major groups: cartilaginous
fish (sharks and rays) and bony fish (ray-finned fish and lobe-finned
fish). Both groups first appeared in the Early Devonian period. An advanced
group of the ray-finned fish, called teleost fish, evolved during the
Jurassic to become the most abundant fishes today. There are also several
extinct classes of fish.
FIBULA
The fibula is the calf bone - the bone in the lower, back part of the
leg between the knee and the ankle.
FLEXOR MUSCLE
A flexor muscle which closes a joint. (Compare with a extensor muscle,
its opposite)
"FLYING REPTILES"
(pronounced TER-o-SAWR) Pterosaurs (meaning: "winged lizard")
were flying, prehistoric reptiles. They were not dinosaurs, but were closely
related to them. Pterosaurs were named by Kaup in 1834.
FOOTPRINTS
Many fossilized dinosaur footprints have been found. They can indicate
the animal's speed, weight, and herding behavior. Determining which animal
made the tracks can be difficult.
FORELIMBS
Forelimbs are the front legs of an animal.
Fossil
The remains of an animal or plant preserved in rock. Usually the soft
parts, such as muscles or skin, decay completely before they can be preserved.
This leaves only the more resistant parts, such as bone or shell. These
were then replaced by minerals that seeped in from the surrounding sediment.
Many fossils are also crushed flat by the weight of overlying rock.
FOSSIL FUEL
Petroleum (oil), natural gas and coal are fossil fuels, organic materials
that are high in energy. Fossils fuels are formed in a process that takes
millions of years. The organic material (dead plants and animals) is covered
by layers of sediment, then heat, pressure, and bacterial action change
the material into pools of oil and gas (or are compressed as coal).
FOSSIL SHARKS
Sharks have existed for over 350 million years. They evolved over 100
million years before the dinosaurs did. This was long before people evolved.
Most fossil evidence of early sharks is from fossilized teeth and a few
skin impressions. Cladodonts, primitive sharks, had double-pointed teeth,
were up to 3 feet (1 m) long fish-eaters and lived about 400 million years
ago (MYA). The earliest-known primtitive shark remains are fossil "scales"
that date from about 420 million years ago, during the early Silurian.
The earliest shark genera are Mongolepis, Polymerolepis, and Palaeospondylus.
FOULKE, WILLIAM PARKER
William Parker Foulke was a US scientist who found the first American
dinosaur skeleton, Hadrosaurus, a duck-billed dinosaur. The fossilized
bones were found by workmen in a Cretaceous marl (a crumbly type of soil)
pit on the John E. Hopkins farm in Haddonfield, New Jersey beginning in
1838. Foulke heard of the discovery and recognized its importance. The
dinosaur was excavated and named in 1858 by US anatomist Joseph Leidy
who named it Hadrosaurus foulkii (meaning: "Foulke's big lizard").
FRENGUELLISAURUS
(pronounced fren-GWEL-eh-SAWR-us) Frenguellisaurus (meaning: "[Joaquin]
Frenguelli's lizard") may be the same as Herresaurus. It was a late
Triassic dinosaur that lived about 231-225 million years ago. It was a
very early, primitive dinosaur; its classification is unsure. It was a
speedy bipedal carnivore about 10-13 feet (3-4 m) long, weighing perhaps
up to 780 pounds (350 kg). It had 3 large canine teeth in the upper jaw
and smaller teeth in the lower jaw. It had a short neck, a large head,
a long, pointed tail. Its arms were shorter than its legs. It is known
from 3 partial fossilized skeletons found in northwestern Argentina, South
America. It was named by paleontologist Novas in 1986. The type species
is F. ischigualastensis
FRILL
A frill is a sheet of bone on the heads of ceratopsian dinosaurs, like
Protoceratops and Triceratops.
FRILLED LIZARD
Chlamydosaurus (meaning: "caped lizard") is a rare, modern-day
frilled lizard (not a dinosaur) native to New Guinea and North Australia.
Its frill is 7 - 14 inch (18-34 cm) flap of skin that completely circles
its head. It opens this brightly-colored frill to frighten enemies. Adults
are over 8 inches (20 cm) long. These climbing lizards live in trees in
humid forests and eat cicadas, ants, spiders and smaller lizards. It can
run quadrupedally and bipedally, with the front legs off the ground. Adult
females lay 8 to 14 eggs per clutch in Spring and Summer. Classification:
Class Reptilia, Order: Squamata, Family: Agamidae, Genus Chlamydosaurus,
Species kingii (named by Gray in 1825).
Frog
Frogs are amphibians and the first primitive frogs evolved during the
Early Triassic period. The first modern frogs with jumping motion appeared
during the Jurassic period. Feeding on insects and other invertebrates
they are restricted to aquatic habitats.
FULGUROTHERIUM
(pronounced FULL-gur-oh-THEER-ee-um ) Fulgurotherium (meaning: "lightning
beast") is a dubious genus. It was an ornithischian dinosaur and
an ornithopod. This plant-eater was about 6.5 feet (2 m) long. It dates
from the early Cretaceous Period. A very incomplete fossil was found in
Australia. Fulgurotherium was named by paleontologist von Huene in 1932.
The type species is F. australe.
Fungus
This group includes yeast, mould, mushrooms and mildews. They lack chlorophyll
and the organised plant structure of stems roots and leaves. Evidence
for their existence dates to approximately 420 million years ago, but
palaeontologists argue that they may have been around earlier.
FURCULA
The furcula is the "wishbone" of birds.
FUTABASAURUS
(pronounced fu-TAHB-ah-SAWR-us) Futabasaurus (meaning: "Futaba [Group]
lizard") was a theropod dinosaur and a tyrannosaurid. This bipedal
meat-eater had a large head, long legs, short arms and a stiff pointed
tail. It dates from the late Cretaceous Period. Fossils were found in
Japan. Futabasaurus was named by paleontologist Lambert in 1990.