What makes dinosaurs different over other reptiles and gave them an advantage is that?
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What makes dinosaurs different over other reptiles and gave them an advantage is that?
One of the reasons for dinosaurs’ success is that they had straight back legs, perpendicular to their bodies. This allowed them to use less energy to move than other reptiles that had a sprawling stance like today’s lizards and crocodiles.
What is the main difference between dinosaurs and reptiles is their?
Reptiles, such as crocodiles and lizards, have legs that sprawl out to the side. Their thigh bones are almost parallel to the ground. They walk and run with a side-to-side motion. Dinosaurs, on the other hand, stand with their legs positioned directly under their bodies.
Why are birds considered reptiles in an evolutionary classification system?
Avian dinosaurs evolved over the last 65 million years to become modern birds. Therefore, birds are not just closely related to dinosaurs, they actually are dinosaurs. Additionally, it is this connection that tends to cause birds to be referred to as reptiles.
What are the advantages that reptiles have over amphibians?
Difference Between Reptiles and Amphibians
| Amphibians | Reptiles |
|---|---|
| Skin is smooth and highly porous. | Skin is dry, hard and scaly. |
| The webbed feet help them to swim. | They have limbs to facilitate running and swimming. |
| Their eggs are covered with gel. | Their eggs are covered with a hard protective covering. |
What advantages do reptiles have?
Reptiles are ectotherms: they depend on their surrounding environment to control their body temperature; this leads to advantages, such as not being dependent on metabolic energy from food for body heat. Reptiles are also poikilotherms: animals whose body temperatures vary rather than remain stable.
When did birds become classified as reptiles?
Molecular data tells us that during the Triassic period (251-199 million years ago) the major groups of what are today considered reptiles evolved, and these are the relatives of a group that were the ancestors of crocodiles and dinosaurs.
Birds share many characteristics with reptiles such as being vertebrates, having scales on parts of their bodies, and laying amniotic eggs with shells.
Why are birds classified as reptiles?
These evolved over the next 65 million years into modern birds. So birds aren’t just closely related to dinosaurs, they really are dinosaurs! This is what most people mean when they say that birds are reptiles, although technically according to the phylogenetic system mammals are also reptiles.
How are dinosaurs related to birds?
Birds are more intimately related to dinosaurs, as they branched off from a dinosaur. The first group of reptiles split 300 million years ago. Some 40 million years later, a group called therapsids branched off, and this group eventually evolved to become what we now deem modern mammals.
How are reptiles classified in the Linnaean system?
In the Linnaean system, organisms are grouped by characteristics regardless of their ancestry. So a reptile is an animal that is ectothermic and has scales, and birds would not be reptiles.
Are dinosaurs classified as non-avian dinosaurs?
Terrestrial dinosaurs, of which T-Rex was the most popular, are often classified as non-avian dinosaurs. In the same way, birds and mammals are technically reptiles, as they descended from the very first reptile.