Raptors The Bird-like Dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era

When most people think of raptors, they picture the lithe, lizard-skinned, big-clawed dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, smart enough not only to hunt in packs but to figure out how to turn doorknobs. In real life, though, most raptors were about the size of small children, almost certainly covered in feathers, and not quite as intelligent as the average hummingbird. For the record, what Steven Spielberg called Velociraptors in Jurassic Park and Jurassic World were really modeled on the much bigger Deinonychus. The time has come to set the record on raptors straight. First, you might be surprised to learn that raptor itself is a semi-made-up, Hollywood-type name: paleontologists prefer to talk about dromaeosaurs (Greek for running lizards), which you have to admit isnt quite as catchy. And second, the raptor roster extends far beyond the mass-market Velociraptor and Deinonychus mentioned above, including such obscure (but important) genera as Buitreraptor and Rahonavis. By the way, not all dinosaurs with the word raptor in their names are true raptors; examples include such non-raptor theropod dinosaurs as Oviraptor and Eoraptor. The Definition of a Raptor Technically, paleontologists define raptors, or dromaeosaurs, as theropod dinosaurs that share certain obscure anatomical characteristics. For our purposes, though, raptors can be broadly described as small- to medium-sized, bipedal, carnivorous dinosaurs equipped with grasping, three-fingered hands, relatively big brains, and huge, solitary claws on each of their hind feet, which they probably used to slash and occasionally disembowel their prey. Bear in mind that raptors werent the only theropods of the Mesozoic Era; this populous class of dinosaurs also included tyrannosaurs, ornithomimids, and small, feathered dino-birds. Then theres the issue of feathers. While it cant be flatly stated that every single genus of raptor had feathers, enough fossils have been unearthed bearing evidence of this unmistakable bird-like trait to lead paleontologists to conclude that feathered raptors were the norm, rather than the exception. However, feathers didnt go hand-in-hand with powered flight: while some genera on the fringes of the raptor family tree, such as Microraptor. seem to have been capable of gliding, the vast majority of raptors were completely land-bound. In any case, theres no question that raptors are closely related to modern birds; in fact, the word raptor is also used to describe big-taloned birds like eagles and falcons. The Rise of the Raptors Raptors came into their own during the late Cretaceous period (about 90 to 65 million years ago), but they roamed the earth for tens of millions of years before that. Utahraptor dinosaur running in the desert with a calamite forest in the background. Stocktrek Images​/Getty Images  Ã‚   The most notable dromaeosaur of the early Cretaceous period was Utahraptor, a gigantic predator, approaching 2,000 pounds in weight, that lived about 50 million years before its more famous descendants; still, paleontologists believe that most proto-raptors of the late Jurassic and early Cretaceous periods were relatively tiny, scurrying beneath the feet of larger sauropod and ornithopod dinosaurs. During the late Cretaceous period, raptors could be found all over the planet, with the exception of modern-day Australia and southern Africa. These dinosaurs varied enormously in size and sometimes in anatomical features: the above-mentioned Microraptor weighed only a few pounds and had four feathered proto-wings, while the fierce, one-ton Utahraptor could have whomped a Deinonychus with one claw tied behind its back. In between were standard-issue raptors like Dromaeosaurus and Saurornitholestes, swift, fierce, feathered predators that made quick meals out of lizards, bugs, and smaller dinosaurs. Raptor Behavior As mentioned above, even the brainiest raptor of the Mesozoic Era couldnt hope to outwit a Siamese cat, much less a full-grown human being. However, its clear that dromaeosaurs (and, for that matter, all theropods) must have been slightly smarter than the herbivorous dinosaurs they preyed on, since the tools required for active predation (a sharp sense of smell and sight, quick reflexes, hand-eye coordination, etc.) require a relatively large amount of grey matter. (As for those lumbering sauropods and ornithopods, they only had to be slightly smarter than the vegetation they munched on!) The debate about whether raptors hunted in packs has yet to be settled conclusively. The fact is, very few modern birds engage in cooperative hunting, and since birds are tens of millions of years farther down the evolutionary line than raptors, that can be taken as indirect evidence that Velociraptor packs are a figment of Hollywood producers imaginations. Still, the recent discovery of multiple raptor track marks in the same location hints that at least some of these dinosaurs must have roamed in small packs, so cooperative hunting would certainly have been within the realm of possibility, at least for some genera. By the way, a recent study has concluded that raptors--and many other small- to medium-sized theropod dinosaurs--most likely hunted at night, as evidenced by their larger-than-usual eyes. Bigger eyes allow a predator to gather in more available light, making it easier to home in on small, quivering dinosaurs, lizards, birds and mammals in near-dark conditions. Hunting at night would also have allowed smaller raptors to escape the attention of larger tyrannosaurs, thus assuring the perpetuation of the raptor family tree!

Salem vs McCarthyism Essay - 1648 Words

Imagine you are called in by an official of your government. He sits you down in a chair and informs you that you have been accused of something terrible, something that everyone in your city fears. You defend yourself and tell him that you had nothing to do with this crime. The official says he believes you, but in order to let you leave, you have to give him the name of someone you know who has committed this crime. You know of no one who would commit such a heinous crime, but the official refuses to let you go until you give him a name. One name. Any name. This situation sounds a little extreme, and even a bit barbaric. One would think that it would have happened a long time ago, before men were civilized and refined. They are right.†¦show more content†¦This was one of the reasons that there was so much hysteria that went along with the Salem Witch Trials. In 1692, Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem was shocked to discover his nine-year-old daughter Elizabeth (known as â€Å"Betty†) and his eleven-year-old niece Abigail Williams acting extremely strangely. The young girls were screaming and crying and contorting their bodies into strange and uncomfortable positions. The girls said they felt like their bodies were being pricked with hundreds of needles. Their hysterical episode was described as beyond the power of epileptic fits or natural disease to effect. An unknown doctor, (historical evidence suggests that it was Doctor William Griggs) examined the girls and could not find anything physically wrong with them. There were no signs of any illness that he knew of. Most accounts say that this doctor was the first one to suggest that the girls’ behavior could be a result of witchcraft. Soon, other girls in the village began to show the same symptoms as Betty and Abigail. Eventually, Betty, Abigail and two other â€Å"afflicted† girls named Tituba, Reverend Parris’ slave, Sarah Osborne, a woman who rarely came to church, and Sarah Good, a town beggar, as the women who bewitched them and caused their strange sickness. It all went downhill from there. Anyone in the town who exhibited even mildly suspicious behavior, or spoke out against the trials was accused ofShow MoreRelatedSalem Witch Trial vs Mccarthyism1208 Words   |  5 PagesA review of A Fever in Salem: A New Interpretation of the New England Witch Trials, by Laurie Winn Carlson, Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, 2000; 224 pp. $14.95 Paperback. ISBN: 1-566633095 A FEVER IN SALEM POSITS A biological cause for the early modem witchcraft epidemic, which resulted in the hanging of 19 people in Salem, MA, in 1692. Witchcraft persecution, Laurie Carlson writes, arose because of the strange behavior of the supposedly bewitched accusers. She concludes that the cause was a disease unrecognizableRead MoreThe Powerless- Analysing Mccarthyism Vs. The Salem Witch Trials2054 Words   |  9 PagesThe Empowerment of the Powerless- Analysing McCarthyism Vs. The Salem Witch Trials During the witch trials, almost two hundred innocent people were convicted of consorting with the Devil and practicing witchcraft, and a surprising twenty people were hanged for their lack of confession. The source for this mass hysteria, was nothing more than the silent influence of eleven young girls ranging from the age of nine to twenty-five. They began to accuse their neighbors of witchcraft, gaining them theRead MoreArthur Millers The Crucible And The Second Red Scare1293 Words   |  6 Pagesfearful†¦of being identified as Communists† (Miller â€Å"Why I Wrote The Crucible†). Arthur Miller’s The Crucible is an effective allegory due to Miller connecting Salem to McCarthyism by the showing the people of Salem being driven into rash actions and unjust court systems because of their paranoid spirits. The most apparent similarities between Salem and the Second Red Scare are the trials themselves, however, Miller does not utilize them as his strongest con nections. Miller creates the most connectionsRead MoreThe Mccarthy Hearings Vs The Salem Witch Trials Essay1011 Words   |  5 PagesMcCarthy Hearings vs The Salem Witch Trials The McCarthy Hearings and the Salem Witch Trials both transformed the thought process of Americans today. Despite being described as completely unique and distinguished events, they both are eerily similar in appearance. The Salem Witch Trials and McCarthyism are both described as witch hunts with several similarities in the way the inspired fear but they have several differences in the motivation and the end of each event. The Salem Witch Trials is knowRead MoreMccarthyism And The Salem Witch Trials1195 Words   |  5 PagesMcCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence (â€Å"McCarthyism†). The Salem Witch Trials was when more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed because of these accusations (Brooks). During the Red Scare like there are accusations of people committing treason during the Red Scare. In The Crucible people are accused of being witches during the Salem Witch trials. There are many similarities and differencesRead MoreThe Hands Of An Angry God1627 Words   |  7 Pagesdirected to a Puritan congregation urging with orthodox fervor for transgressors to repent. Arthur Miller wrote the allegorical play The Crucible in 1953, lively portraying the hysteria occurring during the Salem Witch Trials in an effort to describe his perceptions of the post-war climate of McCarthyism and the sh eer terror of Communism. In the pulpit oratory â€Å"Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God†, Edwards eloquently uses imagery, metaphors, and symbolism in order to instill fear in his congregation andRead MoreThe Crucible : An Allegory For The Red Scare2011 Words   |  9 PagesAmericans being equal in status to White Americans during the Civil Rights movement. Although the crucible takes place in 1692, Salem, it reflects the concerns of 1950?s American life and is an allegory for the Red Scare, and Homosexuality. [2: Wall, Wendy. Anti-Communism in the 1950s. www.gilderlehrman.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. .] The Crucible takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, which was a puritan town.[endnoteRef:3] Reverend Parris is praying over his daughter, Betty, who appears toRead MoreThe Cold War And The Cuban Missile Crisis2976 Words   |  12 Pagesannihilation at any moment in time. Many can even name important events in the Cold War, such as ‘The Berlin Wall Collapsing’ or ‘The Cuban Missile Crisis’, however there is one major part of the Cold War that most tend to forget and glance over: McCarthyism, or the Red Scare. Senator Joseph McCarthy stressed an importance on ending communism in America, and during the 1950s, many accused to be affiliated with communists were sent to court and sometimes to prison when, in fact, most were innocent. ThoseRead MoreEssay about The Fear of the Noose in The Crucible by Arthur Miller713 Words   |  3 PagesArthur Miller establishes a period in the American history known as the Salem witch trials of 1692. It is a well built Puritan s ociety in which the citizens are bonded with the church. During this time McCarthyism was in play, it was the anti-communist suspicions into the U.S. The theme in the story The Crucible was honesty and truth versus scapegoat. Arthur Miller used the noose to lead the reader to the theme of honesty vs. scapegoat. The noose represents the most prevalent symbol in The CrucibleRead MoreMccarthyism : Alive Yesterday, Today, And Tomorrow2146 Words   |  9 PagesMcCarthyism: Alive Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow â€Å"Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong - these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history.† Winston Churchill Winston Churchill was correct to state that history does in fact repeat itself, and when one looks at the past one can see that McCarthyism, the execution

Theodore Roosevelt And the Rise of America to World Power Free Essays

Theodore Roosevelt And the Rise of America to World Power Howard K. Beale Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World Power was published by John Hopkins University Press in 1956. Beale’s books emphasized and interpreted economic factors during the Reconstruction Era. We will write a custom essay sample on Theodore Roosevelt And the Rise of America to World Power or any similar topic only for you Order Now His scholarly works gained the term â€Å"the Beale Thesis†, which was based upon Beale’s theory that Reconstruction was the effort of big business to seek control over the federal government for their own gain by eliminating agrarian competition. Among having published several books, Beale also edited the diaries of Edward Bates and Gideon Welles, both of Lincoln’s cabinet, nd edited a work of scholarly essays by leading historians. Beale was a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin. Beale’s book, â€Å"Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of America to World Power† covers the major developments, policies, and actions by which the â€Å"Imperialists† helped guide America into world power. It gives insight into the role Roosevelt played in the policies at the turn of the century. Beale gives detail into Roosevelt’s personal diplomacy, his feelings for other nations, and why he believed it was appropriate that America tied itself with England as an â€Å"English- speaking† power. Beale also questions to what extent did Roosevelt and his fellow expansionists influence the course of America? Did the need for American imperialism eventually lead us into danger? During the last decade of the nineteenth century, national loyalties strengthened nations and a struggle for power would become the dominating ambition for industrialized nations. Competition had aroused nations â€Å"to expand their political and economic, perhaps too their cultural, control beyond their national boundaries as far as their energies and opportunities permitted. † (pg 31) This new imperialism was based on industrial rivalry and America ad to choose if she would follow suit. â€Å"The people of America never really consciously decided what they wanted to do. Yet as the obvious trend toward becoming an imperial power in real or potential conflict with other empires emerged, many Americans foresaw dangers and opposed steps that were leading us into imperialism. (pg 33) Theodore Roosevelt came into presidency with a firm belief that America needed to expand its power abroad and that we should stand ready to defend our interests. Even before he became president, Roosevelt and his fellow expansionists already had an influence in foreign policy. Roosevelt had an affinity for war history since he was a youth so it was only natural to him to bel ieve a big part of America’s power came from it’s navy. In 1897, Roosevelt, with the help of his friends, became the Assistant Secretary of Navvy under President McKinley. He used his office to promote building a stronger, bigger naw fleet. Roosevelt was known to glorify war, as he â€Å"believed only in â€Å"Just wars†, but then any war America fought would be just. † (pg 40) Fearing the danger Spain posed to Cuba, Roosevelt supported America’s involvement in war against Spain. Roosevelt tried to appeal war to McKinley, but ailed. â€Å"The best Roosevelt could do was prepare the Navvy for war. † (pg 68) One day while Secretary Long was out for a few hours, Roosevelt, standing in as secretary, ordered deliberate acts that he and his friends planned for months. Two months later the Spanish-American War began and Roosevelt abandoned his office to Join in the war. In the campaign of 1900, Roosevelt campaigned for vice president under McKinley. He promoted expansion and asserted the relevance of the Monroe Doctrine. He insisted during his speeches that expansion† was not the same as â€Å"imperialism† because the term turned people off. Roosevelt had convinced himself and others that his was the cause of righteousness. The Spanish-American War brought the U. S. he Philippines and Roosevelt insisted that extending the rule over the Philippines would bring them civilization. To him this meant that the anti- imperialists who opposed expansion were also opposing civilization. â€Å"Roosevelt seems not to have foreseen the possibility that the spread of civilization through expansion of the rule of â€Å"superior† races over â€Å"backward† ones might someday arouse nationalist aspirations that would threaten that civili zation itself. (pg 79) Roosevelt assumed presidency in 1901 after McKinley was assassinated and his first major step as president was establishing Britain as an ally. Roosevelt recognized that common language and way of life established a connection. By attainment of the Anglo- American understanding, â€Å"British and American imperialists were Joined together in an effort to dominate parts of the world they dubbed backwards. Second, Roosevelt and his friends had brought England and America together in an effort to preserve through united action an unstable balance among the nations he considered ivilized. † (pg 157) The establishment of an alliance between America and Britain was also essential to balance the power of a rising Germany. In 1902, Roosevelt prepared to go to war with Germany to prevent any foothold in South America. He asserted use of the Monroe Doctrine. As it became evident that China needed allies, Roosevelt also recognized an economic motive. â€Å"He saw the possibility of America Joining Britain to enforce an open door policy in China. † (pg 163) Although economics was not particularly the main focus driving Roosevelt’s vision of expansion, he understood the mportance of commercial interests in the Far East. If America had not attained the upper hand in China, China could have had a closed door policy and wouldn’t have secured the benefits of open door. Roosevelt wanted China to have a policy similar to the Monroe Doctrine, and to let China develop on its own. Roosevelt began to feel an annoyance with Russia, fearing that the growing trade with China could be interrupted if the issues with Manchuria weren’t solved. So in an effort to balance the power and open the doors to Manchuria, Roosevelt supported China in its struggle gainst Russia. As Britain’s power began to decline, Russia’s power began to rise and Roosevelt saw the imbalance. He knew he had to restore the stability. While Germany still posed a threat, Russia was thought to be the more immediate danger. â€Å"Russian expansion, which had once seemed desirable, no longer meant extending control of a superior over a backward race, but had become an obstacle to the push of another civilizing power. † (pg 231) When the Japanese attacked Russia, Roosevelt was proud. He admired the Japanese people and believed if he supported them they would serve American interests in Japan. While Roosevelt saw the danger in Japan becoming too powerful, the power of Russia in the present outweighed that fear. Roosevelt hoped that with a Japanese win, Japan would organize China and together they would become great civilized powers. Roosevelt held part in the negotiation treaty between the two nations. Roosevelt had foreseen the dangers Japan posed, in which ultimately defeated his goal to balance power in the Far East. Roosevelt’s concern to balance power led to an interest in Europe. He had thought of the possibility of war if balance ere not maintained. In order to keep from war, Roosevelt tried to bring America and Europe closer together in hopes of removing distrust and threats of war. Roosevelt felt that â€Å"Japan, England, France, Russia, or Germany, his â€Å"civilized powers†, and even the United States, could be as serious threats to each other and to world peace as the backwards people. † (pg 305) In his efforts to prevent war, Roosevelt called the Portsmouth Conference, and in 1905 played a role in the Algeciras Conference. The dispute between Britain, France and Germany had no direct interest to the United States, but Roosevelt wanted to keep the peace. Roosevelt became an intermediary as to keep Morocco open to American trade, as well as to keep Germany from becoming the dominant power in Europe or to expand into South America. Although Roosevelt wanted to expand America and civilize the inferior races, he knew that â€Å"his countrys interests could be protected only if no power became powerful enough to threaten the rights of other powers. † (pg 382) Roosevelt saw the rivalries between nations and understood the threat too much power posed. Roosevelt was successful in most of is endeavors, Germany was kept out of South America and Japan influenced Korea and China. The open door remained. Roosevelt’s uncommon approach to diplomacy gained him much respect among other rulers. The way he personally handled foreign relations with directness put people at ease. His keen sense in foreign policies and almost prophetic insights made Theodore Roosevelt one of America’s most influential men. As well, his extraordinary diplomatic skills made him one unforgettable man. If Roosevelt had made different choices in foreign policy would todays America be the same? We will never know. How to cite Theodore Roosevelt And the Rise of America to World Power, Papers