Psittacosaurus - Facts and Figures

Psittacosaurus - Facts and Figures Name: Psittacosaurus (Greek for parrot lizard); pronounced sih-TACK-oh-SORE-us Habitat: Scrublands and deserts of Asia Historical Period: Early to middle Cretaceous (120 to 100 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 3 to 6 feet long and 50 to 175 pounds, depending on species Diet: Plants Distinguishing Characteristics: Short, blunt head with curved beak; small horns on cheeks About Psittacosaurus As you may have guessed from its name, Greek for parrot lizard, what set Psittacosaurus apart from other dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period was its distinctly un-dinosaur-like head. This plant-eaters curved beak made it somewhat reminiscent of a parrot, but otherwise, its squat noggin was distinctly tortoise-like. (One shouldnt draw too much from this analogy; Psittacosaurus, and other ornithischian dinosaurs like it, werent directly ancestral to modern birds, an honor that belongs to saurischian dinosaurs.) Although its often depicted in a four-legged posture, paleontologists believe some species of Psittacosaurus (there are at least 10 currently named) walked or ran on two legs. (A new study concludes that this dinosaur scuttled around on four legs as a juvenile, then assumed a bipedal posture thanks to a growth spurt in its hind legs.) Psittacosaurus seems to have led a relatively quiet life, although the horns on its faceprobably a sexually selected characteristicindicate that the males may have engaged in combat with each other for the right to mate with females. Theres also solid evidence that Psittacosaurus cared for its young after they hatched, like the distantly related duck-billed dinosaurs Maiasaura and Hypacrosaurus. By the way, you wouldnt know it from its small, unprepossessing appearance (six feet from head to tail and 200 pounds, max, for the largest species), but Psittacosaurus is classified as a ceratopsianthe family of horned, frilled dinosaurs the most famous members of which were the much later Triceratops, Protoceratops, and Styracosaurus. In fact, Psittacosaurus was one of the most basal ceratopsians, predated only by the late Jurassic Chaoyangsaurus and itself a close cousin to a bewildering array of proto-ceratopsian genera, including Yinlong and Leptoceratops.

How to Conjugate French Regular -ER Verbs

How to Conjugate French Regular -ER Verbs There are five main kinds of verbs in French: regular -ER, -IR, -RE; stem-changing; and irregular. Once youve learned the rules of conjugation for each of the first three kinds of verbs, you should have no problem conjugating regular verbs in each of those categories. The majority of French verbs are regular -ER verbs. French Regular -ER Verb Conjugations The verb form that ends in -ER is called the infinitive, and -ER is the infinitive ending. The verb with the infinitive ending removed is called the stem or radical. To conjugate -ER verbs, remove the infinitive ending to find the stem and add the endings. The table lists the present tense conjugations for the regular -ER verbs parler (to speak or talk), donner (to give), and visiter (to visit). To help with learning, the infinitive form is listed (such as  parler) followed by the stem (such as  parl-). Pronoun Ending parler parl- donner donn- visiter visit- je -e parle donne visite tu -es parles donnes visites il -e parle donne visite nous -ons parlons donnons visitons vous -ez parlez donnez visitez ils -ent parlent donnent visitent Regular -ER verbs share conjugation patterns in all tenses and moods. More -ER Verb  Conjugations: Penser The rules for conjugating regular -ER verbs remain the same throughout all tenses and moods: Thats why they the are called regular -ER verbs. For your studies, it can be helpful, however, to view all the conjugations for all tenses of moods of a regular -ER verb, such as  penser  (to think). Remember that to conjugate this regular -ER verb, simply take the stem -pense  and then add the appropriate endings. Pronoun Present Future Imperfect je pense penserai pensais tu penses penseras pensais il pense pensera pensait nous pensons penserons pensions vous pensez penserez pensiez ils pensent penseront pensaient Pronoun Subjunctive Conditional Pass Simple Imperfect Subjunctive je pense penserais pensai pensasse tu penses penserais pensas pensasses il pense penserait pensa penst nous pensions penserions pensmes pensassions vous pensiez penseriez penstes pensassiez ils pensent penseraient pensrent pensassent Pronoun Imperative tu pense nous pensons vous pensez Some Common French Regular -ER Verbs Take some time to familiarize yourself with the most common regular -ER verbs, because youre likely to encounter these words often when reading or speaking French. They all share the same conjugation patterns, with a few exceptions noted below. aimer   to like, to lovearriver   to arrive, to happenchanter     to singchercher   to look forcommencer   to begindanser   to dancedemander   to ask fordà ©penser     to spend (money)dà ©tester   to hatedonner   to giveà ©couter   to listen toà ©tudier      to studyfermer   to closegoà »ter     to tastejouer   to playlaver   to washmanger     to eatnager   to swimparler   to talk, to speakpasser   to pass, spend (time)porter   to wear, to carryrà ªver   to dreamsembler   to seemskier   to skitravailler   to worktrouver   to findvoler   to fly, to steal A Few Exceptions All regular s of this kind of conjugation would be commencer  (to begin), manger (to eat),  nager  (to swim), and  skier (to ski). Though they are conjugated just like regular -ER verbs, watch out for verbs that end in  -IER, such as  Ãƒ ©tudier  (to study).