Brooklyn College
City University of New York
Lab #6; ASSIGNMENT ##Page 5

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Now that your data are starting to pile up, it might be a good idea to enter them in the following table. Print out a hard copy of this page and use the table to systematize your data.

        

DILOPHOSAUR POSTURE INDEX: Now we are ready for a key piece of evidence in this research project - the posture index for bipedal dinosaurs, specifically for the dilophosaur that made the trackway in the corridor outside the lecture room.

The best way to find the posture index for this dinosaur is to use the footprints in the corridor trackway to get values for dilophosaur leg spacing and foot length, and then calculate posture index as you have already done for yourself and the iguana.

Finding dilophosaur foot length is straightforward. However, how to measure leg spacing may not be immediately obvious because the trackway was made by a moving dilophosaur, not one standing still with its legs together. As a result, the trackway footprints are positioned at a considerable distance from each other along the trackway, rather than opposite each other in the trackway, as would have been the case had the dinosaur stood still.

One suggestion for measuring leg spacing, involving a line laid along the midline of the trackway, is diagrammed to the left. If you decide to do this, you will need to lay a length of twine, string or other material on the trackway to make the necessary measurements.

Calculate posture index for a dilophosaur, record your results in the table above, and go on to page 6.