Can you Build a Dinosaur?
Can you Build a Dinosaur?
Is it possible to bring an extinct species back to live today? What types of technology would we use to try this? If we can bring back an extinct species, should we? What would be some reasons to bring back extinct species? What would be some reasons against bringing back extinct species?
Vocabulary to Know
DNA, Fossil, Avatism, Gene, Sonic Hedgehog
Jurassic Park: How they Built Dinosaurs
Watch the video clip below to find the answers to the discussion questions.
- Explain how the scientists got dinosaur DNA.
- How possible do you think it would be to gather dinosaur DNA in that method? Explain.
- How did the scientists compensate for having incomplete dinosaur DNA?
- Which living animals are most related to dinosaurs?
- If you had dinosaur DNA, could you create multiple species of dinosaurs?
Building a Dinosaur from a Chicken
This is a TED Talk from paleontologist Jack Horner. Jack Horner was one of the science consultants to the movie Jurassic Park. As you watch the video, look for the answers to the discussion questions below.
- According to Dr. Horner, what would you end up with if you tried to make a dinosaur using Jurassic Park's method? Why?
- Do fossils have DNA? Explain.
- Dr. Horner proposes that some dinosaurs are still alive today. What does he mean by that?
- How could you use a "living dinosaur" to create an ancient dinosaur?
- What is atavism activation? How is it involved in this process?
A Fossil Snake with 4 Legs
Use the article to answer the discussion questions. Click on the picture to open the article.
- According to Dr. Horner's video (above), what is it called when you have an ancient characteristic that is no longer in the living species?
- What did the scientist mean when he said this fossil was the Archaeopteryx of the squamate world?
- Which hypothesis about this transition is most supported by the bone evidence of the fossil? Explain.
Was the ancient fossil "snake" really a snake
or was it a lizard?
Use the article above to find evidence to support the fossil being most related to snakes or lizards.
Snakes
List characteristics of the fossil that show it would be most related to the snake group of animals.
Lizards
List characteristics of the fossil that show it would be most related to the lizard group of animals.
In conclusion:
Using the evidence provided in the table, should the fossil be classified as an ancient snake or an ancient lizard? Explain why.
UF Health Researchers Uncover How Snakes Lost Their Legs
Watch this video and read the article "Snakes Evolved Out of Their Legs" (click to open) to find the answers to the discussion questions below.
- What rudiments of legs do pythons have?
- What does the gene called Sonic Hedgehog control?
- How does a mutation in this gene relate to a snake not having legs?
- How could scientists use this information to genetically modify snake DNA to make a snake with legs?
- Could this type of technology be used to help reverse engineer a dinosaur from a modern relative of dinosaurs?
