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Kuehneosaurus

Kuehneosaurus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Kuehneosaurus rather than just read about it. In short: Kuehneosaurus is an extinct genus of Late Triassic kuehneosaurid reptile known from the Late Triassic (Norian stage) of the Penarth Group of southwest England and the Steinmergel Group of Luxembourg. Temperature at this stage and region would have ranged from 28 to 35 °C.

Kuehneosaurus — main illustration
Kuehneosaurus — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Kuehneosaurus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Kuehneosaurus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Kuehneosaurus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Kuehneosaurus is an extinct genus of Late Triassic kuehneosaurid reptile known from the Late Triassic (Norian stage) of the Penarth Group of southwest England and the Steinmergel Group of Luxembourg. Temperature at this stage and region would have ranged from 28 to 35 °C. It was named by Pamela Lamplugh Robinson in 1962 in honour of paleontologist Walter Georg Kühne, and the type and only species is Kuehneosaurus latus. Measuring 72 centimetres long (2.3 feet), it had "wings" formed from ribs which jutted out from its body by as much as 14.3 cm, connected by a membrane which allowed it to slow its descent when jumping from trees. It is a member of a family of extinct gliding reptiles, the Kuehneosauridae, within a larger living group the Lepidosauromorpha, which contain modern lizards and tuatara. Unlike its longer "winged" relative Kuehneosuchus (which may be a species of the same genus or represent a different sexual morph), aerodynamic studies have shown that Kuehneosaurus was probably not a glider, but instead used its elongated ribs to parachute from the trees. A study by Stein et al. in 2008 found that its parachuting speed, descending at a 45-degree angle, would be between 10 and 12 metres per second. Pitch was controlled by lappets (wattle-like flaps of skin) on the hyoid apparatus, as in the modern gliding lizard Draco.

See also

Coelurosauravus

References

Further reading Robinson PL (1962) Gliding lizards from the Upper Keuper of Great Britain. Proceedings of the Geological Society of London 1601:137–146. Robinson PL (1967a) Triassic vertebrates from upland and lowland. Science and Culture 33:169–173. Evans SE, Jones MEH (2010) The Origin, early history and diversification of lepidosauromorph reptiles. In Bandyopadhyay S. (ed.), New Aspects of Mesozoic Biodiversity, 27 Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences 132, 27–44. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-10311-7_2,

Illustrations

Kuehneosaurus illustration
Kuehneosaurus: Skull reconstruction
Skull reconstruction
Kuehneosaurus: Size of Kuehneosaurus (orange, right( compared to fellow kuehneosaurids Kuehneosuchus and Icarosaurus, as well as to other unrelated extinct gliding reptiles and Draco volans, a living gliding lizard.
Size of Kuehneosaurus (orange, right( compared to fellow kuehneosaurids Kuehneosuchus and Icarosaurus, as well as to other unrelated extinct gliding reptiles and Draco volans, a living gliding lizard.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Kuehneosaurus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Kuehneosaurus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Kuehneosaurus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Kuehneosaurus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Kuehneosaurus

In research
Kuehneosaurus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Kuehneosaurus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Kuehneosaurus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fossil taxa described in 1962, Fossils of England, Fossils of Luxembourg, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Kuehneosaurus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Kuehneosaurus in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Kuehneosaurus means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Kuehneosaurus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kuehneosaurus in simple terms?

Kuehneosaurus is an extinct genus of Late Triassic kuehneosaurid reptile known from the Late Triassic (Norian stage) of the Penarth Group of southwest England and the Steinmergel Group of Luxembourg. Temperature at this stage and region would have ranged from 28 to 35 °C.

Why does Kuehneosaurus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Kuehneosaurus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Kuehneosaurus.

Tags

  • Fossil taxa described in 1962
  • Fossils of England
  • Fossils of Luxembourg
  • Kuehneosauridae
  • Late Triassic reptiles of Europe
  • Norian life
  • Prehistoric reptile genera
  • Triassic England
  • Triassic reptile stubs

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