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- Sabre Toothed Cat
- Also spelled Saber Toothed Cat, these were among the most successful creatures ever to live on Earth. They appeared almost 30 million years ago and became extinct only 10,000 years ago, most likely because man hunted them and man also killed off much of their prey. They are best known because of their distinctive fangs, which were as long as 6 inches. An interesting fact is that they needed to open their mouths more than 90 degrees in order to be able to bite. Another interesting fact is that, because it would have been relatively easy to break a saber, they would probably have used their teeth to bite into the bottom of the neck of their prey and slash it open as opposed to biting where they might hit a bone.
- Sauropod
- Sauropods were the long-necked, plant-eating dinosaurs. They lived mostly during the Jurassic Period and were found just about everywhere there were dinosaurs. This means that the design of the sauropod was very successful. What makes a dinosaur a sauropod?
-Long neck and tail
-Four pillar-like legs capable of supporting a great weight
-Five-toed hands and feet
-Small heads with (mostly) peg-like teeth
-Plant eater
Sauropods were not very smart when you consider that of all the dinosaurs, they had the smallest brain size to body size ratio. They could, however, get very big. Some newer discoveries are approaching 150 feet long and over 100 tons! There are some technical ways to identify a sauropod - 12 or more neck (cervical) vertebrae, an ilium (a pelvic bone) expanded to the back, and at least for sacral vertebrae. Examples of sauropods are Apatosaurus, Seismosaurus and Brachiosaurus. - Scavenger
- A meat-eating animal that eats only dead animals. It does not hunt or kill other animals, but waits until they are killed by something else or die of natural causes.
- Scutes
- Scutes are the bony plates found on most ankylosaur and on many other dinosaurs. They are also referred to as dermal plates. They range in size from quite small to large, over six inches (16 cm). On some dinosaurs, they developed into offensive or defensive weapons, becoming spines or spikes that could grow to over two feet (60 cm) in length.
- Sediment
- This refers to sand, dirt or other materials that settle on top of something, such as a dead dinosaur. Sediment is what covers bones and thereby begins the process of turning the bone into a fossil. Layers of sediment build up over many years, and the pressure from the weight of these layers turns the lower layers into rock. Sediment is most often put into place by water, but wind or other natural forces can create sediment as well. Examples of sedimentary rock are limestone and sandstone.
- Segnosaurs
- See Therizinosaurus
- Serrated
- When used in paleontology, serrated generally refers to the very small ridges on the edge of a tooth. Many carnivores had serrated teeth to help them cut through flesh.
- Species
- See "Classification"
- Stereoscopic
- The ability to see something three dimensionally. With stereoscopic vision it is possible to judge distances and is therefore a trait that is helpful to animals that hunt. It requires the eyes to be located in the front of the skull. If the eyes are located on the sides, it usually indicates that the animal is herbivorous.
- Stromatolites
- See "Algae"
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