What can a paleontologist tell from fossil of a dinosaur?

Answer 1

There is a lot paleontologists can learn from dinosaur footprints.

The most obvious is that they can tell where particular genera & species of dinosaurs lived.

If you know which dinosaur made the tracks you can use an equation based on it's leg length to work out how fast it was travelling. From this you can infer what type metabolism the animal had. Did it have a high metabolism like modern day warm blooded birds and mammals or a a slow metabolism like modern day cold blooded reptiles?

You can also infer something of dinosaur social nature. Were they solitary animals like tigers or live in small prides like lions or huge herds like zebra?

You can also work out something of the health of the dinosaur in question. Was it injured and walking with a limp? In some instances, did it have injuries that did not hamper its day to day life? For example did it loose a toe or claw in the past but able to survive and return to normal health?

Some very rare fossil tracks can tell you of the hunting technique of dinosaurs. Was a carnivorous dinosaur following a herbivorous dinosaur?

Answer 2

the fossil could look like a animal living today. they compare the bones of our animal today.the frist person to do that was B.W Hawkins(Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins).but all he had was a tooth.

Answer 3

First of all, you can tell how big the leg might have been. Second of all, you can tell if it's a runner, perches, swimmer or if it was a grasper.

Answer 4

it can tell the breed, and a lot more. hope it helped

Answer 5

the shape and size...