biology

Paradracaena

Paradracaena 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 Paradracaena rather than just read about it. In short: Paradracaena is an extinct genus of lizards from northern South America. Fossils of Paradracaena colombiana have been found in the Honda Group of Colombia, Peru and Brazil.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Paradracaena is an extinct genus of lizards from northern South America. Fossils of Paradracaena colombiana have been found in the Honda Group of Colombia, Peru and Brazil. The species was described as a member of the tegus; Tupinambis huilensis by Estes in 1961.

Description

Paradracaena colombiana was first described as Tupinambis huilensis by Estes in 1961, later named Dracaena colombiana by Sullivan and Estes in 1997. These ground dwelling insectivore-carnivores were described from fossils found in fluvial and lacustrine clays of the Middle Miocene (Laventan in the SALMA classification) Villavieja Formation in Colombia. They share a number of features with extant caiman lizards, such as large teeth and a robust quadrate, but also bear more primitive characteristics, such as a higher tooth count.

Distribution

Apart from the type locality in the Honda Group, fossils attributed to the genus Paradracaena were recovered from the Pebas and Solimões Formations of the Amazon Basin of respectively Peru and Brazil.

See also List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Colombia

References

Bibliography Sullivan, Robert M.; Estes, Richard (1997), The Miocene Fauna of La Venta, Colombia - A reassessment of the fossil Tupinambinae, Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 100–112, retrieved 2019-03-21 Hsiou, Annie Schmaltz; Albino, Adriana María; Ferigolo, Jorge (2009), "First Lizard Remains (Teiidae) from the Miocene of Brazil (Solimões Formation)" (PDF), Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, 12 (3): 225–230, doi:10.4072/rbp.2009.3.05, retrieved 2019-03-21 Pujos, François; Albino, Adriana M.; Baby, Patrice; Guyot, Jean-Loup (2009), "Presence of the Extinct Lizard Paradracaena (Teiidae) in the Middle Miocene of the Peruvian Amazon", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 29 (2): 594–598, Bibcode:2009JVPal..29..594P, doi:10.1671/039.029.0227, retrieved 2019-03-21

External links (in Spanish) Fauna de La Venta, Reptiles (lagartos) Paradracaena colombiana

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paradracaena

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paradracaena 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 Paradracaena 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 Paradracaena 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 Paradracaena

In research: Paradracaena 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 Paradracaena 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: Paradracaena is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Extinct animals of Brazil, Fossil taxa described in 1961, Fossils of Colombia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paradracaena 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 Paradracaena in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Paradracaena in simple terms?

Paradracaena is an extinct genus of lizards from northern South America. Fossils of Paradracaena colombiana have been found in the Honda Group of Colombia, Peru and Brazil.

Why does Paradracaena 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 Paradracaena?

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 Paradracaena.