biology

Planicoxa

Planicoxa 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 Planicoxa rather than just read about it. In short: Planicoxa is a genus of advanced iguanodontian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of North America. It is known from the partial skeletons of several individual specimens.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Planicoxa is a genus of advanced iguanodontian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of North America. It is known from the partial skeletons of several individual specimens. Its fossils were discovered in Utah, United States. The type species for the genus is Planicoxa venenica, first described by Tony DiCroce and Kenneth Carpenter in 2001. Its discovery was made in the Poison Strip Sandstone Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation in Grand County, Utah, United States. The generic name, Planicoxa, which means "flat hip", refers to the flat appearance of the ilium formed by horizontal folding over of the postacetabular process (rear portion of the ilium), the defining characteristic of the genus; venenica, the specific name, is Latin for "poison" in reference to the Poison Strip Sandstone Member of the Cedar Mountain Formation where the discovery was made. The taxon is represented by a well-preserved ilium, femora, tibiae, and vertebrae, as well as other material. The femora are standard for ornithopods, but the ilium has a short, horizontal postacetabular process that is functionally an antitrochanter. The discovery of P. venenica added significant information to the Barremian-Albian fauna of the Cedar Mountain Formation. The species is estimated to have reached 4.5 metres (15 ft) and weighed 450 kilograms (990 lb). A second species, P. depressa, was created by Carpenter and Wilson (2008) for material previously named Camptosaurus depressus by Charles Gilmore in 1909. That material was collected from the Lakota Formation near the town of Hot Springs, South Dakota. It too has the odd flat ilium formed by the horizontal postacetabular process. This species differs from P. venenica in that the ilium is not as arched, has a thicker (more robust) preacetabular process (long, forward projection of the ilium), a shallower acetabular notch (hip-socket), and a proportionally narrower brevis shelf (a shelf for muscles on the inside of the rear part of the ilium). It is known from some vertebrae and two ilia. Isolated iguanodontid bones from the Lakota Formation probably belong to this species. In 2011, it was assigned to its own genus, Osmakasaurus.

References

DiCroce, T. and K. Carpenter. (2001). "New ornithopod from the Cedar Mountain Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of Eastern Utah". pp. 183–196 in: Tanke, D. & K. Carpenter (eds.) Mesozoic Vertebrate Life. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. Carpenter, K. and Wilson, Y. (2008). "A new species of Camptosaurus (Ornithopoda: Dinosauria) from the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Dinosaur National Monument, Utah, and a biomechanical analysis of its forelimb". Annals of the Carnegie Museum 76:227-263.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Planicoxa

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

In research: Planicoxa 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 Planicoxa 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: Planicoxa is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Ankylopollexia, Barremian dinosaurs, Cedar Mountain Formation, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Planicoxa 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 Planicoxa in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Planicoxa 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 Planicoxa out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Planicoxa in simple terms?

Planicoxa is a genus of advanced iguanodontian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of North America. It is known from the partial skeletons of several individual specimens.

Why does Planicoxa 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 Planicoxa?

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 Planicoxa.