Thursday, March 17, 2016

Pregnant T-rex discovery sheds light on evolution of egg-laying

Having grown up as a kid whose favorite toys were dinosaurs, seeing articles like this are always fascinating because as I have aged, so has my interest in these creatures. This specific article touches on the reproductive system of T-Rexes. It is well known that dinosaurs share a great amount of similarities with birds and this article is just another example of this. A female tyrannosaurus skeleton was found which contained a medullary bone. The way that the article described this bone is that when a bird, or tyrannosaurus in this case, gets pregnant it develops a bone so to be able to easily transfer calcium into egg shells without drawing from other parts of their bodies. This was an incredibly lucky find because based on predictions on the length of a T-Rex gestation period, this bone would only be present for around five weeks. This discovery is significant because it sheds light on how far back the reproductive systems of todays birds went back and could potentially lead to the discovery of when the development of this bone originated.

The implications of this article are mainly based in the idea of evolution. When it comes to the fossil record there are always going to be significant gaps and while scientists do know a fair amount, there is still a massive amount that unknown. It is fairly widely accepted at this point that birds come from dinosaurs and this is just one more reason to put behind the argument. Perhaps the more exciting part of this discovery is that, in the article they mentioned that there may be tyrannosaurus DNA preserved within this bone due to its position within the femur. Being able to analyze this DNA would make for better guesses on the appearance and anatomy of these creatures. Plus a small part of me hopes that one day Jurassic Park will become a reality.

The article was very poignant and effective at providing information. The article was actually split into three parts which each added their own aspect and drew information from each parts. A good and manageable number of quotes were used to give make the information credible but not too many too draw away from the main focus. If I had to make one criticism, it would be that there was not enough information on the anatomy of a T-Rex and what medullary bone actually is.

Viegas, Jennifer. "Pregnant T-rex Discovery Sheds Light on Evolution of Egg-laying." ABC News. Discovery News, 15 Mar. 2016. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.

5 comments:


  1. Pregnant T-rex discovery sheds light on evolution of egg-laying

    Michael,

    You brought me in right away with your opening sentence because I share you interest in dinosaurs. Then you were able to sum up the subject of the article, and in doing so you kept your review concise and right to the point. You left out any useless information which was also very nice to see. You also linked dinosaurs to modern day birds which was a good connection and furthered you point, or the article’s point for that matter. Finally, your review was poignant with a voice and very well written.

    On the other hand, there are a few areas you could improve on. First and foremost, you could have included the hyperlink of the article you read. (Hopefully Mr. Ipp won’t take points off for that.) Next, you could have included a quote from the article, or a quote from someone in the article. This would give us more insight into what you read and strengthened some of your points. Other than that, your grammar had no mistakes and your writing overall was great.

    After reading your review, it is clear that this article is a very important breakthrough for science and the public. Most people are fascinated by dinosaurs and are aware that they are a common ancestor to the bird, but few know about how they reproduced. Your review shed light on that area and was enjoyable to read.


    Viegas, Jennifer. "Pregnant T-rex Discovery Sheds Light on Evolution of Egg-laying." ABC News. Discovery News, 15 Mar. 2016. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.

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  2. Michael,

    I thought you did an excellent job with your review. One area in which your review was especially strong was that you kept your review concise. Only information that was necessary was included, and it made your article very easy to read. Also, I thought you did a good job of illustrating relevance by linking your article to birds. This is especially relevant for us, as we have been studying evolution and common ancestry in class. Lastly, I thought you did a good job with your introduction. Your unique link to your childhood illustrated your passion for the topic, and, consequently, it does an excellent job in drawing the reader in.

    Your article was very well done, however one way you could improve is citing a knowledgeable source in your review. If you include a quotation from an expert, I think the appeal to authority will strengthen your ideas as well as allow you to phrase your ideas differently. Also, you did not include the hyperlink in your citation. Although this is a very small change, it would just make it easier for the reader to find your article.

    Again, I thought you did a great job with your review. One thing I learned from it is the reproductive cycle of the T-Rex: for about five weeks the T-Rex develops a medullary bone, which transfers calcium to the egg during the gestation period.

    Work Cited:
    Viegas, Jennifer. "Pregnant T-rex Discovery Sheds Light on Evolution of Egg-laying." ABC News. Discovery News, 15 Mar. 2016. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-16/pregnant-t-rex-discovery-sheds-light-on-evolution-of-egg-laying/7251466

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  3. Michael,
    Interesting article, it makes one reflect how there is still so much unknown about the past, specifically the dinosaurs. I liked the way you started the beginning on a personal note rather than rushing to spill the facts. In a way you left more of your mark on the article rather than having a simple boring summary. Another good aspect of your piece was that it was concise yet informative. I obtained the overall gist of your article fairly easily; scientists discovered that the T-Rex may have actually had a medullary bone which aids in their reproduction. A very strong aspect of your piece was how relevant the article was with what we’re studying. Your article wasn’t random, it related to the test we just took on evolution and the fossil record. In a way your article enforces what we just learnt and how important it is.

    Although I thought your review was well written, there are a few minor sources of improvement. Despite stating in the beginning that there are evolutionary ties between the dinosaurs and birds, you never really stated if the medullary bone is something birds have as well during gestation. So I was slightly confused throughout the article about this actual point. Just elaborating on the medullary bone would have been nice, but I understand that the article itself didn’t expand upon that point. Another slight error is your use of the word “poignant”. I’m pretty sure you didn’t mean to say that “The article was very (touching/smelly) and effective at providing information.”

    I was initially drawn to your article as it was one of those topics that you don’t really ever ponder on. We don’t take the time in our lives to wonder about things that don’t concern us in our daily lives, and this article was refreshing in that aspect. As I said in the beginning, this new discovery proves how much is unknown to us. It’s stupefying to think there is still so much to learn about our past scientifically, and that progress in this field is one long arduous journey.

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  4. Viegas, Jennifer. "Pregnant T-rex Discovery Sheds Light on Evolution of Egg-laying." ABC News. Discovery News, 15 Mar. 2016. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.

    Micheal,

    Your review of “Pregnant T-rex Discovery Sheds Light on Evolution of Egg-Laying” was really interesting to read and drew me in immediately with that personal anecdote about your childhood. Of all the reviews I’ve read so far, yours was the only one which incorporated a personal touch. And as it transitioned into facts, it was concise yet informative about the new knowledge that we gained of the dinosaur’s gestation period based on their bones; this continues to pull the reader in and doesn’t distract them with useless and unnecessary information. The connection between dinosaurs and modern birds help the readers understand the importance of this new discovery. Lastly, I thought that the ending of the second paragraph once again gave the review a more personal touch with a hint of humor, which engages the reader.

    There aren’t really any areas for improvement because it was really well-written, but maybe you could have included some quotes, which would help strengthen your point. You said that “a good and manageable number of quotes were used to give make the information credible but not too many too draw away from the main focus,” so I can understand why you didn’t include a quote, but I still think anything, even something small, can improve your review. I, like you, would also like to know more about the medullary bone and what it is, so maybe a bit more research on that would have been helpful.

    After seeing the words “pregnant dinosaur,” I was immediately drawn to this review. And after reading the first sentence, I was hooked. Again, as you said, this article shines light on the aspect of evolution, and how no matter how much we find out about it or how old the evidence is, there are always new evidence to help verify this information. Overall, I just wanted to say you did a wonderful job.

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  5. https://bronxvilleapbiology.blogspot.com/2016/03/having-grown-up-as-kid-whose-favorite.html
    Viegas, Jennifer. "Pregnant T-rex Discovery Sheds Light on Evolution of Egg-laying." ABC
    News. Discovery News, 15 Mar. 2016. Web. 18 Mar. 2016. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-16/pregnant-t-rex-discovery-sheds-light-on-evolution-of-egg-laying/7251466

    I thought the review was very well written, especially the title and opening sentence, “Having grown up as a kid whose favorite toys were dinosaurs”, which immediately drew me into the review and kept my attention the whole time. I also found the summary of the article to be very well done. It was concise and simple, yet specific enough so I had a complete understanding of what the article was talking about and the article’s point of view on the topic. I also found the comparison to birds very helpful and made the argument and topic more relatable to today's world where t-rexes are nonexistent.
    I did find some issues with the review, however, starting with more background information, possibly from experts, to help widen the scope of the review and make certain the argument the review was taking. There also lacked a hyperlink to the article itself, which made finding the article very difficult.
    I think this opened my eyes because I never thought of birds being impregnated, but this article really went into detail about how similar they are to animals that do reproduced after pregnancy. I think the whole world would change if birds didn’t lay eggs, as many sayings and idioms are relating to bird’s eggs.

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