The Challenge Factory discussion

Dr. Grant, thank you for coming all the way to Costa Rica to examine the DNA. We hope you will enjoy your time here at the biological preserve on Isla Nublar. You should have no worries for your safety. *cue eerie music that will cause shivers up and down your spine*

Your task is to code the dinosaur DNA (read one task from the five tasks given for a dinosaur). You will then post on the DNA Verification thread asking for confirmation whether you have successfully deduced the correct DNA.

If you have not, you will then read for the next dinosaur.

Before you begin the process, I will ask how many dinosaurs you wish to read for. There are 20 possible matches to the unidentified DNA. This number will be noted in your Completion Posts.


HOW TO PLAY:
1. Take a look at the list of dinosaurs.
2. Choose your first extinct reptile and post it into your thread.
3. The moderator will then post the related information and tasks.
4. When you have read one of the tasks, post on your thread the following:

Completion Post (#? of ?)
Is the DNA (dinosaur name goes here)?
Task:
Book:
Pages:
How it Fits:

5. And then leave a message on the DNA Verification thread.

Rules:
* Books must be at least 140 pages.
* You can use or ignore 'a', 'an, 'the'
* Page count for audio books will be determined the first paper version shown on Goodreads. On the book's page, select “all editions”, then use the first paper edition to determine the page number.

Possible Dinosaur Matches
1. Allosaurus
2. Apatosaurus
3. Ankylosaurus
4. Archaeopteryx
5. Brachiosaurus
6. Brontosaurus
7. Coelophysis
8. Compsognathus
9. Diplodocus
10. Giganotosaurus
11. Gallimimus
12. Iguanodon
13. Parasaurolophus
14. Spinosaurus
15. Stegosaurus
16. Therizinosaurus
17. Triceratops
18. Troodon
19. Tyrannosaurus Rex
20. Velociraptor

Welcome to Costa Rica, Dr. Grant. How many samples of dinosaur DNA will you be examining? And which one do you want to start with?

I will do all 20 and start with Velociraptor, please.

LittleRedRidingHood wrote: "I will do all 20 and start with Velociraptor, please."

Awesome.

Here come the Velociraptor tasks.

* Common name: Velociraptor
* Type of dinosaur: theropod
* Size: 6.5 ft/2m
* Period: Late Cretaceous

Many depictions of Velociraptor, including those in Jurassic Park, suggest that it was taller than a man. In fact, Velociraptor was turkey-sized, standing around 1.6 ft./50 cm tall and 6.5 ft./2m long.

Another inaccuracy in the Jurassic Park velociraptors is that they are portrayed without feathers. Velociraptor is now known to have had both feathers, and wings. It is thought that the ancestors of Velociraptor may have been able to fly. (Velociraptor itself is thought to be flightless.)

One each of Velociraptor’s feet was a 3.5 in./9 cm killing claw. Armed with such formidable weapons, Velociraptor would have been a proficient hunter. In one famous fossil, a Velociraptor is fighting a Protoceratops.

To identify this dinosaur, complete one of the following:
1. read a book with something that is taller than a man on the cover
2. read a book with a MC that has a pet bird
3. read a book where the MC travels through the air (in an airplane, helicopter, spaceship, on a broom or magic carpet, or rescued by a Great Eagle :)
4. read a book where the MC might be armed with a weapon
5. read a book tagged 'History', 'Historical" or "Historical Fiction'

Completion Post (1 of 20)
Is the DNA Velociraptor?
Task: 1,2,3,4
Book: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Pages: 814
How it Fits: doors on the cover(1), HP has an owl (2), travels on a broom and creatures (3), HP has a magic wand (4)

I'm sorry. The DNA isn't from the Velociraptor.

Which dinosaur would you like to examine next?

I would like to try Spinosaurus, please.

Spinosaurus is on its way.

* Common name: Spinosaurus
* Type of dinosaur: Therapod
* Size: 56 ft./17 m.
* Period: Late Cretaceous

The first Spinosaurus was discovered in Egypt in 1912. Unfortunately, the specimen was destroyed when the museum in Germany in which it was being stored was bombed during the war.

Several more Spinosaurus fossils have since been found, also in North Africa.

Spinosaurus is one of the biggest land predators ever to have lived. Like other spinosaurids, it had elongated spines on its back. These are thought to have supported a sail made of skin.

Paleontologists are unsure of the purpose of the Spinosaurus’s sail. It may have helped to keep the dinosaur at the correct temperature, or have been used as a display to attract mates.

Another explanation is that it helped Spinosaurus move through the water while swimming. Spinosaurus’s long, thin jaws and sharp teeth suggest it was a fish eater.

To identify this dinosaur, complete one of the following:
1. read a book set in the Middle East or Northern Africa
2. read a book where the MC goes to a museum
3. read a book set during a war, battle, or conflict
4. read a book with 400+ pages
5. read a book tagged 'History', 'Historical' or 'Historical Fiction'

Completion Post (2 of 20)
Is the DNA Spinosaurus?
Task: 4
Book: All Systems Red
Pages: 144
How it Fits: Murderbot protects his contractors in the battles.

I'm sorry. The DNA isn't from the Spinosaurus.

Which dinosaur would you like to examine next?

I will go with Giganotosaurus.

Giganotosaurus is coming your way.

* Common name: Giganotosaurus
* Type of dinosaur: Theropod
* Size: 39 ft./12 m
* Period: Late Cretaceous

Giganotosaurus was a large, meat-eating dinosaur that lived in South America in the Late Cretaceous.

It’s possible that this fearsome dinosaur was the largest land carnivore ever to have lived; some paleontologists estimate its length could have exceeded 49 ft./15 m.

This famous dinosaur had crest-like ridges on the skull in front of the eyes.

To identify this dinosaur, complete one of the following:
1. read a book set in South America
2. read a book Size Matters! list
3. read a book with "fearsome" in the text of the book
4. read a book with a close-up of eyes on the cover
5. read a book tagged 'History', 'Historical' or 'Historical Fiction'

Completion Post (3 of 20)
Is the DNA Giganotosaurus?
Task: 5
Book: Sense and Sensibility
Pages: 374
How it Fits: Historical fiction

I'm sorry. The DNA isn't from the Giganotosaurus.

Which dinosaur would you like to examine next?

I would like to try Brachiosaurus, please.

LittleRedRidingHood wrote: "I would like to try Brachiosaurus, please."

Of course :)

* Common name: Brachiosaurus
* Type of dinosaur: Sauropod
* Size: 75 ft./23m
* Period: Late Jurassic

First discovered in Colorado, United States, Brachiosaurus is a sauropod from the Late Jurassic period. It can be distinguished from other sauropods by its extra-long front legs, which gave its body a downward-sloping appearance.

The genus name Brachiosaurus, which means “arm lizard”, refers to the dinosaur’s long front legs.

Brachiosaurus is likely to have held its neck erect and would have been capable of reaching foliage around 50 ft/15 m above the ground.

Brachiosaurus appears in this list of famous dinosaurs because it appears in two notable scenes in Jurassic Park. It is the first dinosaur seen by paleontologists Drs Grant and Sattler. Later in the movie, a Brachiosaurus sneezes over one of the children.

To identify this dinosaur, complete one of the following:
1. read a book set in Colorado, USA
2. read a book where the MC has long legs or is very tall
3. read a book that was first published over 50 years ago (1972 or earlier)
4. read a book where the MC is a doctor of some kind
5. read a book tagged 'History', 'Historical' or 'Historical Fiction'

Completion Post (4 of 20)
Is the DNA Brachiosaurus?
Task: 3, 5
Book: Agnes Grey
Pages: 226
How it Fits: Historical fiction and published in 1847

I'm sorry. The DNA isn't from the Brachiosaurus.

Which dinosaur would you like to examine next?

I would like to try my luck with Archaeopteryx.

Good luck with Archie :)

* Common name: Archaeopteryx
* Type of dinosaur: Theropod
* Size: 1 ft./30cm long
* Period: Late Jurassic

The discovery of Archaeopteryx, a crow-sized, feathered dinosaur, provided evidence to support Charles Darwin’s theory of Evolution. This is because Archaeopteryx had characteristics of both reptiles and birds, suggesting that the ancestors of Archaeopteryx were dinosaurs and that its descendants would be modern birds. Fossils such as these are known as “transitional fossils”.

Archaeopteryx had feathered wings and is believed to have been able to fly. Unlike modern birds (and like reptiles), it had teeth and a long tail.

The importance of Archaeopteryx in establishing the link between dinosaurs and birds, together with its extremely well-preserved fossils, mean that it is one of the most famous dinosaurs.

To identify this dinosaur, complete one of the following:
1. read a book where the MC looks for evidence
2. read a book where the MC's first or last name begins with 'C' or 'D'
3. read a book set in a country where your ancestors came from
4. read a book Transitional Chapter Books Series list (if you read a book from this list, there is no page minimum requirement)
5. read a book tagged 'History', 'Historical' or 'Historical Fiction'

Completion Post (5 of 20)
Is the DNA Archaeopteryx?
Task: 5
Book: Daughter of Fortune
Pages: 349
How it Fits: Historical fiction

I'm sorry. The DNA isn't from the Archaeropteryx.

Which dinosaur would you like to examine next?

I will try my luck with Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Ooooo. Watch out for T. rex!

* Common name: Tyrannosaurus Rex
* Type of dinosaur: Theropod
* Size: 40 ft./12.3 m
* Period: Late Cretaceous

It says much about the popularity of this dinosaur that Tyrannosaurus Rex is one of the few dinosaurs to be known by its species name, rather than by the wider genus name.

In scientific terminology, a species name has two words, the first word being the genus (in this case Tyrannosaurus, meaning “tyrant lizard”); the second word being an identifying name (in this case, rex, meaning “king”).

T. rex is usually thought of as an apex predator, but it’s likely that the species was also at least partly a scavenger.

The skull of T. rex was heavily-built and its jaws suggest that it had a powerful bite force. The largest T. rex teeth were around 12 in./30 cm in length, including the root.

Although the forelimbs of T. rex were short, they were thought to be powerful. It is likely that they were used to prevent prey from escaping.

T. rex lived right at the end of the Cretaceous Period, and this famous dinosaur was likely one of the last dinosaurs to have lived.

To identify this dinosaur, complete one of the following:
1. read a book with a person's name in the title
2. read a book from the Popular Books that Annoy You list
3. read a book published in the 12th month or on the 30th day of any month
4. read a book where the MC is short (a child counts)
5. read a book tagged 'History', 'Historical" or "Historical Fiction'

Completion Post (6 of 20)
Is the DNA Tyrannosaurus Rex?
Task: 1
Book: The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Pages: 505
How it Fits: name in the title

I'm so sorry. I completely missed your Completion Post. I really, really, really miss the email notifications that Goodreads used to send out!

I'm sorry. The DNA isn't from the T. rex.

Which dinosaur would you like to examine next?

No worries.

Let's see if Parasaurolophus is the right one.

* Common name: Parasaurolophus
* Type of dinosaur: Ornithischian
* Size: 31 ft./9 m
* Period: Late Cretaceous

Parasaurolophus is one of the most famous hadrosaurid, or “duck-billed”, dinosaurs. Its name, which means “near/almost crested lizard”, refers to its being a close relative of Saurolophus. (Saurolophus, another hadrosaurid, appeared around 3 million years after Parasaurolophus.)

Parasaurolophus was a plant eating browser, able to walk on either two or four legs. It had a large, backwards-curving crest on the back of its head. Tubes ran from the nostrils to the crest, which may have been used to produce sounds.

To identify this dinosaur, complete one of the following:
1. read a book set in Australia (where the duck-billed platypuses are)
2. read a book with all the letters of ALMOST in the title
3. read a book from the Half a million ratings to a million ratings list
4. listen to an audio book
5. read a book tagged 'History', 'Historical' or 'Historical Fiction'

Completion Post (7 of 20)
Is the DNA Parasaurolophus?
Task: 5
Book: North and South
Pages: 521
How it Fits: historical fiction


Next dinosaur: Gallimimus

I'm sorry. The DNA isn't from the Parasaurolophus.

The tasks for the Gallimimus are coming right up.

* Common name: Gallimimus
* Type of dinosaur: Theropod
* Size: 20 ft./6m
* Period: Late Cretaceous

Gallimimus is well-known due to its appearance in the film Jurassic Park. In the film, paleontologist Dr. Grant and the grandchildren of park owner John Hammond are surrounded by a Gallimimus herd. Grant and the children take shelter behind a fallen tree as the herd is attacked by a T. rex.

Gallimimus, whose name means “chicken mimic”, was a fast-moving, herd animal with a large, toothless beak. Unlike the dinosaur in Jurassic Park, Gallimimus is thought to have had feathers. The structure of its beak suggests that the dinosaur was a herbivore that ate tough vegetation.

To identify this dinosaur, complete one of the following:
1. read a book that has been made into a movie
2. read a book where the MC has a grandchild(ren)
3. read a book where the MC gets attacked
4. read a book that you've been chicken to read (on your TBR list for over a year)
5. read a book tagged 'History', 'Historical' or 'Historical Fiction'