Lesson plan
Bairdops
Bairdops is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the Early Carboniferous period in what is now Scotland and the United States. Two named species are currently assigned to it. The type species, B. elegans, has been collected from several Dinantian-aged localities in Scotland, and was first described in 1908 by British geologist Ben Peach as a species of Perimecturus. The generic name was coined decades later in 1979 by American paleontologist Frederick Schram, and honors William Baird. A later species, B. beargulchensis, was named in 1978 after the Serpukhovian-aged Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana where it was discovered. The two species were originally deemed close relatives based on their physical similarities, but several cladistic analyses published since 1998 have suggested the genus may be polyphyletic. A carnivore like all mantis shrimps, Bairdops handled food with its raptorial thoracic appendages and has been proposed to either predominantly be a scavenger or a predator of crustaceans and small fish. Early mantis shrimps like such as this genus would have been unable to capture prey while standing on the seabed like their modern counterparts and instead are believed to have been benthopelagic, perhaps grabbing prey from above while swimming just over the bottom. Members of this genus reached a moderate size, with B.…
Article summary
Bairdops is an extinct genus of mantis shrimp that lived during the Early Carboniferous period in what is now Scotland and the United States. Two named species are currently assigned to it. The type species, B. elegans, has been collected from several Dinantian-aged localities in Scotland, and was first described in 1908 by British geologist Ben Peach as a species of Perimecturus. The generic name was coined decades later in 1979 by American paleontologist Frederick Schram, and honors William Baird. A later species, B. beargulchensis, was named in 1978 after the Serpukhovian-aged Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana where it was discovered. The two species were originally deemed close relatives based on their physical similarities, but several cladistic analyses published since 1998 have suggested the genus may be polyphyletic. A carnivore like all mantis shrimps, Bairdops handled food with its raptorial thoracic appendages and has been proposed to either predominantly be a scavenger or a predator of crustaceans and small fish. Early mantis shrimps like such as this genus would have been unable to capture prey while standing on the seabed like their modern counterparts and instead are believed to have been benthopelagic, perhaps grabbing prey from above while swimming just over the bottom. Members of this genus reached a moderate size, with B.…
Key claims
- publication date: 1998 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- The record states that the publication date is "1998". What evidence would count against this claim?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1372347372
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.