abdomen: This is the central, “gut” region of a vertebrate animal’s body; it contains the digestive organs. In mammals, this body segment tends to sit between the diaphragm and pelvis. Many invertebrates, such as insects, also have an abdomen.
amber: Fossilized tree resin (not sap). Researchers think most of this gemstone likely comes from conifers, or evergreen trees that bear cones.
anatomy: (adj. anatomical) The study of the organs and tissues of animals. Or the characterization of the body or parts of the body on the basis of structure and tissues. Scientists who work in this field are known as anatomists.
biology: The study of living things. The scientists who study them are known as biologists.
caterpillar: The larval stage of moths and butterflies. Somewhat wormy-shaped crawlers, caterpillars tend to eat leaves and other plant bits. Some will, however, dine on other insects.
CT scan: (Also known as a CAT scan). The term is short for computerized axial tomography. It is a special type of X-ray scanning technology that produces cross-sectional views of the inside of a bone or body.
dinosaur: A term that means terrible lizard. These reptiles emerged around 243 million years ago. All descended from egg-laying reptiles known as archosaurs. Their descendants eventually split into two lines. The lizard-hipped line are believed to have led to the saurischians, such as two-footed theropods like T. rex and the lumbering four-footed Apatosaurus. A other, so-called bird-hipped, or ornithischian dinosaurs, appears to have led to a widely differing group of animals that included the stegosaurs and duckbilled dinosaurs. Many large dinosaurs died out around 66 million years ago. But some saurischians lived on. They are now the birds we see today (and who have now evolved that so-called “bird-hipped” pelvis).
entomologist: A biologist who specializes in the study of insects. A paleoentomologist studies ancient insects, mainly through their fossils.
fossil: Any preserved remains or traces of ancient life. There are many different types of fossils: The bones and other body parts of dinosaurs are called “body fossils.” Things like footprints are called “trace fossils.” Even specimens of dinosaur poop are fossils. The process of forming fossils is called fossilization.
insect: A type of arthropod that as an adult will have six segmented legs and three body parts: a head, thorax and abdomen. There are hundreds of thousands of insects, which include bees, beetles, flies and moths.
organ: (in biology) Various parts of an organism that perform one or more particular functions. For instance, an ovary is an organ that makes eggs, the brain is an organ that makes sense of nerve signals and a plant’s roots are organs that take in nutrients and moisture.
predator: (adjective: predatory) A creature that preys on other animals for most or all of its food.
prey: (n.) Animal species eaten by others. (v.) To attack and eat another species.
species: A group of similar organisms capable of producing offspring that can survive and reproduce.
thorax: The middle section of the body of an insect. Between the head and the abdomen, it bears the legs and wings.
unique: Something that is unlike anything else; the only one of its kind.
venom: A poisonous secretion of an animal, such as a snake, spider or scorpion, usually transmitted by a bite or sting.