A Guide to Paleontological Terms

[@stevieb5008]

My little boy loves dinosaurs. He’s 4 and loves this channel! I can’t believe the quality of these videos! Great stuff, thank you so much for educating me and my son!

[@alanqua3789]

That sounds amazing!!

[@sharvilnetu1832]

I am 13 right now, and I had a craze of dinosaurs when I was 4 too and I still have the craze

[@kinderblutsaufenderreptiloide]

I know, I'm late! It's good that he has your support. When I was 4 I wanted to become a paleontologist and I actually made it. I had no support, when I used some of these terms the adults thought I was talking junk! All good for you and your son!

[@CorvidayWolfy]

I hope you and your son are doing well! I was just like him when I was his age, and only a few years ago my interest in dinosaurs returned, but now I’m absolutely obsessed again and I want to try to become a paleontologist when I grow up! 🦖🦕

[@tarrahhicks1723]

Hey if he really likes them he could become a great paleontologist 😊

[@Abahrelgazalia]

Small correction: "Dorsal" and "Ventral" are not toward the "top" and "bottom" respectively. Rather, at least in vertebrates, they are toward the spine and the sternum, respectively. This isn't super relevant for most vertebrates, but it's important for when you talk about oddballs like humans (for whom ventral is forward) or tree sloths (for whom ventral is up). In fact, "anterior" and "ventral" mean the same thing on a human. Anterior/Posterior and Superior/Inferior are terms relative to the way the animal generally holds itself. Dorsal/Ventral and Cranial/Caudal are absolute terms that reference the animal's anatomy.

[@catpoke9557]

Honestly though I think we kind of subconsciously think of our back as the top and our chest and belly as the bottom. Maybe because we see how that's the trend with other animals?

[@koolnomi95]

I think a lot of palaeo enthusiasts forget that there are all these technical terms to learn when someone is just first getting into this subject area. This is a brilliant idea and very helpful!

[@nemilyk]

Interesting to note of tyrannosaurs, like the skull shown at 9:50, is that they have fused premaxilla and nasals, while most therapods don't. This makes their skulls much stronger, and is one of the tell-tale morphological signs that a skull belongs to a tyrannosaur, along with the smaller premaxillary teeth at the front of the jaw used for scraping meat off bones. ...I may or may not have been watching a lot of Thomas Holtz and David Hone lectures lately...

[@ratsubhan4968]

Which contributes and reinforces the power of their jaws also yes tyrannosaurs have particularly robust skulls

[@Man-ds9ir]

The fused premaxillary bone would have been useful for crushing. The prosterior-most tooth is also smaller, and more robust in which could also aid in crushing.

[@SCR_ProductionsYT]

If T.rex supported cranial kinesis, the strong muscles of the jaw would have broken its own skull. Ouchie.

[@Thagomizer]

This is why (among other reasons), the people who claim T.rex is an obligate scavenger have no idea what they're talking about.

[@catpoke9557]

@@Thagomizer The idea a scavenger would ever get so big is just ridiculous. If you're big enough that you can kill your own prey anyways, you would KILL YOUR OWN PREY.

[@TheSpeculativeDoodl]

This is so helpful! You should totally make this into a “Paleontology for beginners” type series. You could talk about papers that would be good for beginners to look through or maybe even go a bit more in depth on the anatomy portion and talk about more unique bodily features, be it soft tissues or skeletal elements, and discuss how they could effect modern paleoart

[@luyandolove]

1:07 AREAS OF STUDY 1:26 Morphology - Study of the physical shape and structure of an organism 1:40 Osteology - Study of how the skeleton works and it’s structure. Only looks at the bones 1:53 Phylogenetics - Evolution of groups of organisms. Relationship of organisms and their ancestors 2:16 Ontogeny - Study of how organisms change as they get older. 2:52 Taphonomy - Study of the processes of an organism between their death to their fossilization 3:27 Ichnology - Study of traces fossils i.e. Burrows or footprints 3:42 Biostratigraphy - The relative dating of rock formations using fossils. 4:23 BASICS OF ANATOMY 4:36 Anterior vs Posterior - Towards the front/head vs Towards the back/tail 4:43 Dorsal vs Ventral - Upper region vs Lower Region 4:51 Medial - Towards the midline 4:53 Lateral - Away from the midline, towards the side 4:59 Proximal vs Distal - Closer to the main body mass vs Away from the main body mass 5:46 SKELETONS 6:09 Osteology Primer - Screenshot for later use 6:14 Skull and Mandible 6:21 Vertebral Column and The Cervical Vertebrae - Neckbones 6:30 Atlas and Axis - Make yo the cervical vertebrates 6:37 Dorsal and Sacral Vertebrae 6:42 Ilium - Hip 6:54 Caudal Vertebrae 7:00 Chevrons - Wouod have contained blood vessels in life 7:10 Ribs and Gastralia(Belly Ribs) 7:22 Limbs 7:26 Scapula and Coracoid - Shoulder girdle 7:32 Humerus, Radius and Ulna - Hands 7:38 Wishbone (idk how to spell that), Present in all theropods and modern birds 7:44 Carpals, metacarpals, Phalanges (Sometimes Unguals/Modified phalange claws) 7:55 Hind limbs and pelvic girdle 7:58 Ischium 8:05 Pubis 8:10 Differences Between Sauriscian and Ornithiscian hips - Screenshot 8:32 Femur, Tibia and Fibula 8:45 Pes - Similar to the hand 8:52 Tarsals and Metatarsal - the carpals and metacarpals of the hand 9:13 SKULL ANATOMY 9:26 Skull Picture- Screenshot 9:30 Mandible and Dentary, Angular and Surangular 9:36 Jaw, Quadrate - Quadratojugal is attached to the Quadrate 9:55 Evolution of T. Rex skull 10:26 SPACES BETWEEN THE BONES (Fenestrae) 10:47 Mandibular and Surangular fenestra 10:53 Nares, Orbit and more fenestrae 11:09 Anapsids skull example - No fenestra 11:20 synapsid skull example - one fenestra behind the temporal orbit 11:30 diapsid skull example - two fenestra behind the eye socket (makes the skull lighter) 11:50 - Euryapsids skull example - Single fenestra behind eye places high on the skull, unnatural, classed as diapsids 12:33 EVOLUTIONARY TERMS 12:57 Cladograms - Shows how various organisms are related to each other 13:11 Clade - Evolutionary organisms on a cladogram, (classes, orders and families) 13:28 - Node and Sister Taxon example 13:44 Monophyletic Clade, Proper/Natural group - Made up of the common ancestor of a group of organisms and their descendants 13:56 Paraphyletic Clade, unnatural/artificial group - Groups with a common ancestor but with some descendants excluded 14:07 Example - Screenshot 14:27 Crown group - contains the most recent common ancestor 14:39 Stem group - extinct relatives of a crown group, always paraphyletic “There can be no stem group for extinct lineage, stem groups of some Clade can be in crown group for larger Clade”

[@Silae.]

Yo just wanted you to know you are appreciated for your dedication.

[@robertfletcher3421]

Thank you that was very well done.

[@purplehaze2358]

I can second that opinion.

[@ratsubhan4968]

This is much easier than doing research all over the internet and in books

[@yazurai4667]

@@purplehaze2358 bruh

[@rachaelhart1670]

Got to say, this channel is GREATLY underappreciated. I hope it grows well because you guys have good production value and cover interesting topics. This video was a great idea and as usual I love your narration and the choices of images. Keep working hard guys

[@patrickmccurry1563]

Fossa meaning hole is why I always laughed at the medication Fosamax which was to treat oseteoporosis. Of all the things to name it... Awesome video as usual.

[@Bahouudis]

I love the fact that I can separate Paleontology from my school for now,and whenever I want, I'll just take out my notebook to see all the paleontological terms I have written there.

[@alejandrolopezvaca3156]

Bro you know what would be cool if you changed your name to NoSwimmySpino because Spino iSn'T sEmi AQutIC, I'd just find it funny

[@freaky_owl5833]

This was actually very helpful for my Zoology lectures, as I have to learn about clades as well as reptile skulls.

[@johndifrancisco3642]

This was SO well done! I usually watch these videos because I think Dinosaurs, and history for that matter, are very cool. I actually learned something from this one. I have a hard time keeping things in order and this video helped a lot by showing the basic foundation of Paleontology. I hope you guys make this onto a series. Thanks for the video.

[@thomaszaccone3960]

Excellent narrative. Please expand in new episodes. A great source on Reptilian osteology is Romer's "Osteology of the Reptiles", somewhat dated but still useful. He covers all extant reptiles as well as dinosaurs, pterosaurs, etc.

[@hailgiratinathetruegod7564]

I like my paleontology *BONELESS*

[@purplehaze2358]

Glue is just *B O N E L E S S* tape.

[@Anita_Dick]

@@purplehaze2358 oh, look whos here again. What a poor baby craving for attention

[@purplehaze2358]

@@Anita_Dick What the hell is wrong with you, dude?

[@ratsubhan4968]

I love your last name Anita

[@aussieraptor5482]

what palaeontology

[@ericweinerhausen7096]

Thanks you! I thought I had a good handle on some of these details, but there's a to I didn't know and a lot more I wasn't terribly familiar with. I really enjoyed learning from you. (Thats high praise)

[@its_xander]

Amazing content which I greatly appreciate! Thank you for this video as it helped me greatly in taking paleontology notes for my courses!

[@funnysecksnumber6998]

i had no fucking idea what to do for a living for way too long. i guess my childhood dream is coming back to show me that i had this absolute godsend right under my nose this whole time. i watched a 2 episode video series on youtube, by a professor, to learn "how tf do i become one?" because paleontology is not a major in any university in my country. well, now that i know what to do, time to pick up studying and get back into "listening to what the teacher says" why cant career stuff be more straight forward? you know? just choose a profession, whatever it is, and you can do that. but noooo, i have to go ahead and choose 'geological engineering', learn which classes ill need myself, also make sure the uni im choosing has a paleontologist professor, contact the professor about how im interested in paleontology and get a couple voluntary jobs and stuff, then go on to get a master's degree in paleontology, and THEN i can actually work as a paleontologist. and if i ever want to do academia or do my own research/expeditions, i have a get a PhD which takes ABSOLUTELY FOREVER... but fuck you, you education system thingy! im goddamn committed.

[@newdinowizard]

How has it gone for you? Have you achieved what you set out to do?

[@AS-oz7jm]

Can you make a video detailing the conditions needed for fossilization?

[@macnutz4206]

This is very useful. I know how boring it can be, but it is very clear why first year courses focus heavily upon the terminology of the field you are beginning to study.

[@colep9329]

I love your Channel, it has always been my dream to be a palaeontologist and this video really helped me I’m still young and wont to learn everything about palaeontology keep up the great work and keep making videos

[@achimpanzee9210]

I’m 13 and I’m trying to get into any biology job possible. Mainly on the subject of ancient animals in the Paleozoic and Mesozoic era

[@Bahouudis]

I'm 13 now and I have been trying to learn anything about dinosaurs and organisms from the mesozoic since I was 4. Ben's channel helped me a lot and this last year I've learnt a lot more than the years before! Although for now it's just my hobby,I have a notebook full of paleontological terms

[@Do_Odles]

Great video chaps, keep up the great work. Please do more videos like this - education of paleontological terms and processes etc! Could do a whole series on the anatomy/physiology etc

[@SharksandDinos]

Thank you for making this video and putting up the sites where we can read those papers. I always wanted to know more about Paleontology, but I just didn't know where to look other than Wikipedia or outdated books.

[@maverick2560]

Definitely one of my favourite videos on this site! Thank you very much for this wonderful resource!

[@gentlebreeze5504]

Thank you sir this was exceptionally useful

[@kaitokofuku6500]

Very thought invoking video on terms related to palaeontology.

[@Sara3346]

I did not need this but love that you have done this.

[@a787fxr]

As usual this video is very interesting and I will probably watch it a couple of times to learn more so I can remember even more. Thanks. !:-)

[@calvingrondahl1011]

Very helpful, thank you Ben.

[@dudeondope9458]

Thanks for the absolutely excellent explanation!

[@reddirtroots5992]

Very interesting and well researched video. Thank you!

[@GuywithaTrexskullonhishead]

I love dinosaurs, nature and all science alike. This video helped improve my knowledge of paleontology and made me better understand dinosaur anatomy. Also thanks for the link in the desc ❤️

[@kevaughnmerrill6534]

Amazing and incredibly useful video! Thanks a lot!

[@Andrey.Ivanov]

This is very helpful. I knew most of this already but I sometimes foreget some of the terms. I actually might make something like a dictionary so I could check and remember them

[@shadowselyf]

Will have to watch this a few more times I think, nice work.

[@rubenkoker1911]

there areliving graptolites (Rhabdopleura ), they live in the english channel and the north sea.

[@audreygullas8728]

Thank you ! This is very helpful. Never knew there were so many "ologys" cool thanks

[@escafopodo]

Muchas gracias ¡esta genial! Tyvm it's so cool!!

[@Man-ds9ir]

Very useful video.... thanks for helping me. Awesome vid keep up the good work.

[@soza5983]

Really good and informative video. Keep up the good work!

[@psalc7445]

Wonderful video. Thank you

[@Triceratops98]

Your channel is lovely

[@albertsilva7947]

Thank you I learned something today.

[@kvvar-deprehistoricawocelr9131]

I was familiar with some of the terms when I started becoming more serious when it comes to paleontological things

[@a.lewisraymer7772]

This is so helpful! Thank you for making this.

[@TheMraksmith]

I needed this, the awesome shines!

[@xxmrbrooksxx]

Thank you. Awesome video.

[@evodolka]

amazingly helpful, thanks for making this video

[@lukescreepedout]

This was really handy and helpful!!!

[@rappar9673]

Excellent video.

[@DL24StaS]

1:25 - as far as I understand it, the physical shape and structure of an organism are studied by Anatomy; Morphology studies the possible variations thereof. E.g., Anatomy studies the "normal", generalized plan of the skeleton typical for a particular species of animals; Morphology studies the possible variation in anatomy, in this case - between individual skeletons of particular organisms that belong to this species. Anatomy tells us that femur and tibia bones are connected by the tibiofemoral joint; Morphology tells us how long tibia bone may be compared to femur in non-pathological members of species A (and pathological cases are studied by Morphologic Pathology). Etc. Excellent job, nonetheless - I'm just nitpicking, really. It normally takes a lot of reading to familiarize oneself with these concepts which you've managed to compress into one short video.

[@shekelboob]

DL24 can you provide a source for this? Because i’ve seen “morphology” used interchangeably with “anatomy”, although, admittedly, in mostly amateur contexts.

[@dindinprivate3477]

Fascinating. Thanks.

[@alkismavridis1]

Great video, really helpful. Thanks a lot!

[@hues-]

i’d say the dorsal/ventral is a bit off. dorsal is towards the side where the backbone/spine is. ventral is more towards the side where the breastbone is.

[@Abahrelgazalia]

+

[@lucasmckenzie8525]

Thank you!

[@nektarmost322]

Awesome video

[@BenGThomas]

Thanks :D

[@crazyponygirl]

This was a pretty informative and well done video and that book you talked about seems pretty interesting to read😊 and I do like most art.

[@anavasquez5231]

Heck yes!!! Great video idea and execution.

[@prehistoricworld_]

Very helpful, thanks a lot!

[@ПетрБословяк]

I think it is so easy. All this terms you can study by every serious biology book.

[@AngryMothNoises]

Can you please do a video like this but about the different eras? (Jurassic, Precambrian, ect...) Idk why, I just have a hard time trying to remember the order of all these terms in our timeline.

[@alkismavridis1]

Is it correct to say that monophyletic clades are an objective assesment about reality (what really happened), and paraphyletic clades etc are some sort of linguistic constructs that we arbitrary defined?

[@Woodswalker96]

Great video, will definitely be useful in the future. Will you do a part 2 to your Azhdarchids video, please?

[@ludovicburonfosse4529]

Thank you, well done!

[@JasonJBrunet]

Oh my god, more phylogeny PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

[@billkotsarinis1544]

Dude i love you

[@wallaballooga8996]

Needed this

[@KahlestEnoch]

Thanks very informative

[@friedatheiling598]

Wow, I would have needed this a few years ago, this is really helpful! I'm gonna force my friends to watch it >:)

[@Scrinwaipwr]

Some bloody nice fossils in this video! :)

[@ismnotwasm1420]

This is really a great channel. Great info. I

[@ethanlee8621]

OMFG this video would have been so helpful last year when I was working on my pachyrhinosaurus 3D model. I was like, "What the hell is a squamosal? Fossa?? What are these nonsense terms I'm hearing for the first time in my life?"

[@duhduhvesta]

I’d love a fossil reading video

[@TheEnabledDisabled]

I hope this video will be used in education.

[@SgtThiel]

14:06 soo... a paraphyletic group is one that includes all members that retain the group's characterists? is that why birds are excluded? because they lost some of those characteristics like being cold blooded and such? even thoug monophyletic speeching they are reptiles?

[@alexandruianu8432]

Not quite, it's whatever clade does not contain all its descendants. Usually this happened because of (real or apparent) present day characteristics that are not representative of their evolution. Reptile in the Linnaean system is paraphyletic because it excludes birds (but Sauropsid = Reptile in phylogeny, so it's been 'corrected'). Other clades are polyphyletic because they include more than one unrelated lineages (the diagram used in the video when he mentions it is wrong, as that is polyphyly, not paraphyly). Here's an example: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Monophyly%2C_paraphyly%2C_polyphyly.png

[@SgtThiel]

@@alexandruianu8432 thank you

[@shekelboob]

Adinan Cenci your definition is correct but didn’t satisfy all possible taxa that could be considered paraphyletic groups. Alexander lanu provided a more correct definition.

[@aliendilo3105]

This is great!

[@Your_local_therian_weirdo]

I wonder if KZbin (and/or similar pages) will one day make it possible for everyone to become autodidacts in whatever field they chose. That would be kind of nice, huh?

[@Eclipsethealpha]

You didn't go over polyphyletic groups ;-; I always get the three confused lol

[@PoipoleEntertainment1987]

That Tyrannosaurus Thumbnail is Lit it’s my favorite

[@purplehaze2358]

Did you just say lit unironically?

[@Anita_Dick]

@@purplehaze2358 Dr. Needy again! What a surprise

[@purplehaze2358]

@@Anita_Dick Wow, you really like picking fights in comment sections, don't you? Who needs attention again, exactly?

[@Anita_Dick]

@@purplehaze2358 i think you just descrived yourself. Dont you like taking some of your own shit? Think about it

[@purplehaze2358]

@@Anita_Dick "descrived" Also, I don't reply because I "want attention", I reply because it's fun to interact with people. Though, you're the one who's obsesses with picking a fight with some random guy on the internet because he replies to people, so, if there's anyone who wants attention, I would say that would be you.

[@zebraz3839]

Is science daily a good place to read stuff about paleontology?(just curious)

[@kermitthorson9719]

i loved this

[@sergiiwhodat]

Are there any books that you recommend for people who want get into Paleontology?

[@boggybeard]

I love you for this video

[@jamessimon3433]

10/10 cheers!

[@osmosisjones4912]

In English. They use land before time terms to name species

[@purplehaze2358]

I feel a little hypocritical criticizing your name, considering the source of mine.

[@Ilokelesia]

Fantastic video Ben. Unrelated but I run a small new subreddit surrounding the Theropoda suborder, I'm not sure how often you interact with the palaeontological community on there or if you do at all, but I'd be very willing to give you moderator privileges should you decide to want to participate.

[@oposum244]

greath job!

[@eat-the-rude4156]

i’m watching this to bore myself out of dropping out of my masters degree to study palaeontology instead and i must say this far it’s not working very well

[@reignorshine.]

Thumbs up way up

[@TaterChip91]

When someone uses the term "published a paper" on a new findings, what exactly does that mean and how could a person find it

[@eddyb1467]

How much math, and how skilled should you be at math for a career in paleontology?

[@raptorrise8537]

I don't know how it is in the US but here in Germany you have to study a geoscience first. Geology for example. There you have math in the first 2 semesters out of 6. After that you normaly have no more math. Its a bit harder than school math but you will only have to write two exams and you only need to pass them (50%). It doens't matter that much. Besides math you also need advanced knowledge in physics, chemistry and geosciences but if you are passionate about it, it's doable and also enjoyable.

[@madderhat5852]

I dig it. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA. Get it? Cause it's about digging up stuff. Bones and stuff thats been buried.

[@slicerneons3300]

A very handy cheat sheet. Feel smarter already.

[@greenman5555]

3:33 - fossilized dung.

[@sarab7242]

9:20 looks like a ghost dragon getting ready to shoot fire

[@nicosmind3]

Blank piece of paper. Fold in half. Stick in book as bookmark and write down page number and words, plus their definition. You can use an app like anki to practice unkown words. And use the book mark to record the pages with interesting points you may want to look up again. Great study aid and saves you flicking through a whole book to find points of interest. Combined with a highlighter and youre smashing it!

[@Tsumami__]

What?

[@thatdutchguy2882]

Tnx m8 👍-up.

[@The_PokeSaurus]

One of my biggest fears in science is these terms being used as scapegoats for bad studies.

[@simonecappiello3937]

Eksternaliya iyne inner'posivnaya Knokhschyim Krhaniyum (v gener Skeletrihiv) o'Sagahi'mammat iyne Iyaschchivdovitsiykh nakovyim giv Interessivmmont. - Hosteologiyas, Morphologiyas, Philogenetikas, Iknologis, Biosstratigraphikas etc... eo iys Ekuiar komprehendiravit!

[@onuscronus984]

The closest I got to to this subject was a Biological Antropology class.

[@paulacarter3923]

Love your videos, but could you please get rid of the background music? I am having to turn sound off and just read captions.