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    A Dinosaur The Size of A Pigeon

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    A newly discovered dinosaur from Mongolia that lived around 150 million years ago has been identified as the earliest known relative of modern birds. Named Epidexipteryx hui, it was about the size of a pigeon with short feathers and long claws. While its teeth suggest it ate small prey, its feathers were likely used for display rather than flying. This new find provides insight into the early evolution of birds just before the time of Archaeopteryx.

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    A Dinosaur The Size of A Pigeon

    Uploaded by

    sehus
    51 views6 pages
    A newly discovered dinosaur from Mongolia that lived around 150 million years ago has been identified as the earliest known relative of modern birds. Named Epidexipteryx hui, it was about the size of a pigeon with short feathers and long claws. While its teeth suggest it ate small prey, its feathers were likely used for display rather than flying. This new find provides insight into the early evolution of birds just before the time of Archaeopteryx.

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    about the evolution theory to practice

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    A Dinosaur the Size of a Pigeon

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    A newly discovered dinosaur from Mongolia that lived around 150 million years ago has been identified as the earliest known relative of modern birds. Named Epidexipteryx hui, it was about the size of a pigeon with short feathers and long claws. While its teeth suggest it ate small prey, its feathers were likely used for display rather than flying. This new find provides insight into the early evolution of birds just before the time of Archaeopteryx.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    51 views6 pages

    A Dinosaur The Size of A Pigeon

    Uploaded by

    sehus
    A newly discovered dinosaur from Mongolia that lived around 150 million years ago has been identified as the earliest known relative of modern birds. Named Epidexipteryx hui, it was about the size of a pigeon with short feathers and long claws. While its teeth suggest it ate small prey, its feathers were likely used for display rather than flying. This new find provides insight into the early evolution of birds just before the time of Archaeopteryx.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 6

    The Week Issue 690, p21

    A dinosaur the size of a pigeon

    Before reading

    What do you know about dinosaurs?

    • When did they live?

    • What did they look like?

    • What did they eat?

    • How did they reproduce?

    • Do you know any names of dinosaurs?

    Now do Task 1 on the next page.

    Text

    The text below is taken from The Week magazine. It has been divided into sections of equal length
    to make it easier to refer to.

    1. A pigeon-sized dinosaur with sharp, protruding teeth, ostrich-like claws, short feathers and a
    long, ribbon-like tail has been identified as the oldest known relative of modern birds.

    2. The bizarre creature, whose remains were found in Mongolia last year, roamed the earth
    more than 150 million years ago, a short while before the Archaeopteryx, the most primitive
    bird discovered before this.

    3. Named Epidexipteryx hui, the new find belongs to the theropod group of two-legged animals
    whose other members includes T-rex. “This is very exciting indeed, since it gives us a window
    into a stage of avian history just preceding the appearance of the classic ‘first bird’,” said Dr
    Fucheng Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

    4. The feathers, he said, were probably used for display rather than flying, to attract a mate or
    scare off rivals. Its teeth suggest that it lived off small prey such as lizards, salamanders or
    possibly insects.

    © 2008 www.teachitworld.com 11628 Page 1 of 6


    The Week Issue 690, p21
    A dinosaur the size of a pigeon

    Reading
    Task 1

    Look at the creature on the left.

    • Does it look like your idea of a dinosaur?

    • Can you describe it?

    • What do you think it ate?

    Read the text and check your answers.

    The Week Issue 690, 8 November 2008, p21

    Task 2

    Below is a list of the meanings of the words printed in bold in the text. Write the words from
    the text next to the meanings.

    Meaning: Word in bold in the text:


    1. indicate, imply suggest
    2. animals hunted for food by other animals
    3. maybe, perhaps
    4. sticking out
    5. found
    6. animal’s sexual partner
    7. dead body
    8. about birds
    9. ate
    10. unusual, strange
    11. show
    12. original, typical

    © 2008 www.teachitworld.com 11628 Page 2 of 6


    The Week Issue 690, p21
    A dinosaur the size of a pigeon
    Task 3
    Find words in the text to fit in the gaps in these sentences.

    The number in brackets ( ) tells you in which section the word can be found.

    1. The body of the victim was ............................................ by his brother. (1)


    2. His grandfather is his oldest ............................................ (1)
    3. The tourists ............................................ all over the ruins of the castle. (2)
    4. ............................................ men used stone tools. (2)
    5. At the film premiere we were all waiting for the ............................................ of the film stars. (3)
    6. The customer was trying to ............................................ the waiter’s attention. (4)

    Task 4

    Look at these examples of superlative adjectives taken from the text:

    The Epidexipteryx is the oldest known relative of modern birds.

    The Archaeopteryx was the most primitive bird discovered before this.
    In English, adjectives change their form only in comparatives and superlatives.

    © 2008 www.teachitworld.com 11628 Page 3 of 6


    The Week Issue 690, p21
    A dinosaur the size of a pigeon

    Rules

    Adjective length Comparative Superlative


    add –er at the end; add ‘the’ at the beginning;
    1 syllable
    add ‘than’ at the end add –est at the end
    double the consonant; double the consonant;
    1 syllable ending with one
    add –er at the end; add ‘the’ at the beginning;
    vowel and one consonant
    add ‘than’ at the end add –est at the end

    change the –y to –i; change the –y to –i;


    2 syllables ending with -y add –er at the end; add ‘the’ at the beginning;
    add ‘than’ at the end add –est at the end
    add ‘more’ at the beginning;
    2+ syllables add ‘the most’ at the beginning;
    add ‘than’ at the end

    There are some exceptions:

    Irregular adjective Comparative Superlative


    good better than the best
    bad worse than the worst
    further than / the furthest /
    far
    farther than the farthest

    Now try to complete the table below.

    Adjective Comparative Superlative


    old older than the oldest
    primitive more primitive than the most primitive
    great
    quicker than
    the most amusing
    surprised
    good
    polite
    big
    happy
    small
    beautiful
    fast

    © 2008 www.teachitworld.com 11628 Page 4 of 6


    The Week Issue 690, p21
    A dinosaur the size of a pigeon
    Task 5

    The pheasant is a common game bird in England, but it originated from Asia, just like the
    Epidexipteryx.

    Look at the pictures of the two creatures:

    http://gallery.e2bn.org/image87589-tw_library.html

    The Week Issue 690 8 November 2008 p21

    Could the pheasant have evolved from the Epidexipteryx? What do you think? Write at least 5
    sentences comparing the two birds.

    © 2008 www.teachitworld.com 11628 Page 5 of 6


    The Week Issue 690, p21
    A dinosaur the size of a pigeon

    Teacher’s notes
    Before reading: speaking (10-15 minutes)
    The results could be varied. Expect things like: dinosaurs lived millions of years ago; they looked
    like reptiles; some were very big; some were plant eaters, others were carnivores; hey laid eggs;
    T-Rex, triceratops, raptor.

    Task 1: comprehension (10 minutes)


    Make sure that students do Task 1 before they read the text.

    Task 2: vocabulary (10 minutes)

    1. indicate, imply suggest


    2. animals hunted for food by other animals prey
    3. maybe, perhaps possibly
    4. sticking out protruding
    5. found discovered
    6. animal’s sexual partner mate
    7. dead body remains
    8. about birds avian
    9. ate lived off
    10. unusual, strange bizarre
    11. show display
    12. original, typical classica

    Task 3: vocabulary (10 minutes)


    1) identified; 2) relative; 3) roamed; 4) primitive; 5) appearance; 6) attract.

    Task 4: comparatives and superlatives (10 minutes)


    old older than the oldest
    primitive more primitive than the most primitive
    great greater than the greatest
    quick quicker than the quickest
    amusing more amusing than the most amusing
    surprised more surprised than the most surprised
    good better than the best
    polite politer than the politest
    big bigger than the biggest
    happy happier than the happiest
    small smaller than the smallest
    beautiful more beautiful than the most beautiful
    fast faster than the fastest

    Task 4: speaking / writing (10-20 minutes)


    The two pictures could be projected onto a screen or whiteboard.
    They could be used for a writing exercise or for a class discussion.

    © 2008 www.teachitworld.com 11628 Page 6 of 6

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