Therizinosaurs - The Weirdest Dinosaurs

Therizinosaurs --reaping lizards--were some of the strangest dinosaurs ever to roam the earth during the Cretaceous period. Technically part of the theropod family--the bipedal, carnivorous dinosaurs also represented by raptors, tyrannosaurs and dino-birds--therizinosaurs were endowed by evolution with an unusually goofy appearance, including feathers, pot bellies, gangly limbs, and extremely long, scythe-like claws on their long front hands. Even more bizarrely, theres ample evidence that these dinosaurs pursued a herbivorous (or at least omnivorous) diet, a sharp contrast to their strictly meat-eating theropod cousins. (See a gallery of therizinosaur pictures and profiles.) Adding to their mystery, only a few genera of therizinosaurs have been identified, most of them hailing from eastern and central Asia (Nothronychus was the first therizinosaur to be discovered on the North American continent, followed soon after by Falcarius). The most famous genus--and the one that gave this family of dinosaurs its name--is Therizinosaurus, which was discovered in Mongolia a few years after World War II. In the absence of other remains, which were only discovered years later, the joint Soviet/Mongolian excavation team that unearthed the partial fossil of this dinosaur barely knew what to make of its three-foot-long claws, wondering if theyd stumbled on some kind of ancient killer turtle! (Some earlier texts reference therizinosaurs as segnosaurs, after the equally mysterious genus Segnosaurus, but this is no longer the case.) Therizinosaur Evolution Part of what makes therizinosaurs so baffling to scientists is that they cant comfortably be assigned to any existing dinosaur family, although theropods are certainly the closest fit. To judge by some clear anatomical similarities, it was once thought that these dinosaurs were closely related to prosauropods, the sometimes bipedal, sometimes quadrupedal herbivores that were distantly ancestral to the sauropods of the late Jurassic period. That all changed with the discovery of the middle Cretaceous Alxasaurus, a primitive therizinosaur equipped with some distinctly theropod-like characteristics, which helped put the evolutionary relationships of the entire breed in sharper focus. The consensus now is that therizinosaurs evolved in their unusual direction from an earlier, more primitive branch of the theropod family. From a biologists perspective, the oddest thing about therizinosaurs wasnt their appearance, but their diet. Theres a convincing case to be made that these dinosaurs a) used their long front claws to slice and dice copious amounts of vegetation (since these appendanges were too ungainly to slash fellow dinosaurs), and b) harbored an extensive network of intestines in their prominent pot bellies, an adaptation that would only have been needed in order to digest tough plant matter. The inescapable conclusion is that therizinosaurs (distant relatives of the prototypically carnivorous Tyrannosaurus Rex) were largely herbivorous, in much the same way that prosauropods (distant relatives of the protopically plant-eating Brachiosaurus) probably supplemented their diets with meat. A stunning recent discovery in Mongolia, in 2011, has shed some much-needed light on the social behavior of therizinosaurs. An expedition to the Gobi Desert identified the remains of no less than 75 therizinosaur eggs (genus undetermined), in 17 separate clutches of a few eggs apiece, some of which had apparently hatched before being fossilized. What this means is that the therizinosaurs of central Asia were social, herding animals, and may have provided their hatchlings with at least a couple of years of parental care before abandoning them in the wild.

The Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder Essay - 1448 Words

Bipolar Disorder is a disorder marked by alternating or intermixed period of mania and depression. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 created two kinds of bipolar disorder, bipolar I and bipolar II. Bipolar I am a type of bipolar disorder marked by full manic and major depressive episode. Bipolar II is a type of bipolar disorder marked by mild manic episodes and major depressive episodes (Comer, 2016). These two types of bipolar disorders have their own dominant distinctions between manic and depressive episodes. In order to be properly diagnosed with this disorder a doctor or licensed medical health profession must diagnose it. Some of the treatments of bipolar disorder are medication and psychotherapy. In the film, Silver Linings Playbook, the main character Pat Solatano, who is played by Bradley Cooper is diagnosed with Bipolar I. He was released from Karel Psychiatric Facility after spending eight months there for a plea deal. He moves back home to live w ith his parents and begins to rebuild his life in order to be with his wife, Nikki again. However, during this time, he met Tiffany, who also had her own mental problems but, throughout the film there is a bond forming between them which change in Solatano for the better. Since Solatano was diagnosed with bipolar I, his symptoms were categorized toward manic and depressive episodes. According to the DSM-5, a major depressive episode may include some of these symptoms, significant weight loss orShow MoreRelatedTreatment Of Bipolar Disorder ( Bipolar )1307 Words   |  6 PagesTreatment of Bipolar Disorder Bipolar disorder is a chronic mental illness that requires lifelong management to be maintained. Another term frequently used for bipolar disorder is manic-depression. This stems from the extreme mood changes of highs and lows that are categorized in this disorder, as the person is usually depressed but will go through manic episodes. Although this is a chronic illness a person with BPD will at times seem symptom-free. The symptom-free person will still need to continueRead MoreThe Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder1960 Words   |  8 PagesBipolar Disorder Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that comprises of both maniac episode and ordinarily one or more depressing episodes. The disorder has a lifetime occurrence of 1-2%. Psychological factors such as family environment, life events social support and cognitive style play an integral role on the onset, course, and the whole expression of the ailment. Pharmacology of the disorder is multifarious and speedily evolving field. The development of new methods of treatment has greatly assistedRead MoreTreatment Of Treatment For Bipolar Disorder1441 Words   |  6 PagesTreatment Treatment for bipolar disorder has to this day been approach using the biomedical model approach. Which means that BP disorder has been predominantly treated pharmacologically. 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Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks (NIMH). Suffering from bipolar dis order can mean suffering from drastic changes in moodRead MoreSymptoms And Treatment Of Bipolar Disorder762 Words   |  4 Pages Bipolar Disorder 2 Disorder history, In the 19th century psychiatry, mania had a broad meaning of craziness, hypomania was equated by some concepts of â€Å"partial insanity† or monomania. Bipolar disorder origins in 1854, Jules Baillarger and Jean-Pierre Falret, independently present descriptions of the disorder to Academie de Medicine in Paris. German neuropsychiatrist Emanuel Mendel in 1881 wrote â€Å"that he

Water shortage may be next cause of world war Free Essays

While much attention and debate have been correctly focused on the impending planet-wide oil shortage, a far greater calamity awaits us as the reality of the looming global water crisis becomes more apparent. It is not unreasonable to wonder whether the next world war will be fought over oil or water. No resource on Earth is more precious than water. We will write a custom essay sample on Water shortage may be next cause of world war or any similar topic only for you Order Now While ongoing events draw our attention to oil, we ignore what will become the most serious resource issue in this century – the international water shortage. The reports that nearly a third of the world’s population lacks clean water for personal daily use and estimates that by 2025 that number will grow to half of the world’s population. A number of world leaders have even suggested that the next world war could be sparked by water disputes. In places as different as the American west, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and China the problem of diminishing water supplies is becoming steadily more serious and more dangerous. The World Bank has reported that as many as 80 countries now have water shortages that threaten their economies as well as their citizens’ health, while 40 percent of the world’s population have no access to clean water and sanitation. In addition, more than a dozen nations receive most of their water from rivers that cross borders of neighbouring countries viewed as hostile. As readily as people and countries ï ¬ ght over control of oil, one can only imagine what it will be like when our precious life source of water is no longer available in sufficient quantities. According to Frank Rijsberman, the director of the International Water Management Institute, â€Å"Globally, water usage has increased six times in the past 100 years and will double again by 2050, driven mainly by irrigation and demands of agriculture.† The consequences of this increase in demand will be widespread scarcity and rapidly increasing water prices. As described in a report issued last August by WWF, the global conservation organization, rather than being simply a problem effecting poor and undeveloped countries, the â€Å"combination of climate change and drought and loss of wetlands that store water, along with poorly thought out water infrastructure and resources management, is making this (water) crisis truly global.† In the Middle East, Israelis and Palestinians are ï ¬ ghting over shrinking water resources. In China India more than 400 of 600 towns nearby cities are suffering water shortages and in Peru, as around the world, mountain glaciers are in retreat, taking with them vast stores of water that grow crops, generate electricity and sustain communities. â€Å"The situation will only be exacerbated as climate change is predicted to bring lower rainfall, increased evaporation and changed patterns of snow melting.† So what is to be done about this imminent case of water insecurity? The most important ï ¬ rst step is to develop a better method of agricultural irrigation. Presently 70 percent of all water use is agricultural, with 60 percent of that water being wasted, primarily through seepage and evaporation. Other strategies to address this growing global water problem include: water conservation, more desalination plants, slowing population growth, reducing pollution, and simply better managing the supply and demand of our most precious resource. Ultimately, there will be no remedy for this seemingly intractable problem unless and until truly sustainable practices of water conservation are undertaken at the personal, national and global level. If we fail to do this, and don’t learn to conserve and cooperate, the war(s) for control of the oil in the Middle East will appear mere picnics by comparison. And in addition to the already existing â€Å"No Blood for Oil† protest signs, our  newest antiwar protesters will be carrying signs saying, â€Å"No War for Water.† How to cite Water shortage may be next cause of world war, Papers