Picing Together the Story of Dinosaurs from Fossils (Readworks)

1. What are fossils?

• A. dinosaurs that were once thought to steal eggs out of nests

• B. feathers that the Citipati dinosaur may have had on its arms

• C. remains of ancient life that are usually buried in rock

• D. s-shaped necks and other similarities between birds and dinosaurs

2. To organize this text, the author has divided it into sections. In the section called "Egg Thief or Egg Protector?" what does the author compare to Citipati?

• Tyrannosaurus rex

• living birds

• leaf prints

• fossil eggs

3. Birds are theropod dinosaurs.

What is one piece of evidence that supports this theory?

• Tyrannosaurus rex and Citipati were theropod dinosaurs.

• Some extinct theropod dinosaurs laid eggs, just like birds do today.

• Birds have feathers, but not all extinct theropod dinosaurs had feathers.

• Scientists once thought that some theropod dinosaurs were egg thieves.

4. The author describes Citipati dinosaurs as “caring parents.” What evidence supports this description?

• A. Citipati walked on two feet with their legs directly underneath them.

• B. Citipati and Oviraptors are known as "oviraptorids," which means "egg thieves."

• C. Citipati laid eggs, had three-toed feet with claws, an s-shaped neck, and hollow bones.

• D. An adult Citipati was discovered sitting on a nest with its arms spread to protect the eggs.

5. What is the main idea of this text?

• A. Fossils can form from teeth, shells, bones, footprints, leaf prints, and eggs.

• B. In 1923, a team of scientists from the American Museum of Natural History made a surprising discovery in the Gobi Desert.

• C. Theropods are a group of dinosaurs that included Tyrannosaurus rex, Velociraptor, and Citipati.

• D. Discovering fossils of extinct dinosaurs helped scientists figure out that birds are a kind of dinosaur.