- Definitions (Source: thefreedictionary.com)
- slickenside: a polished, striated rock surface caused by one rock mass sliding over another in a fault plane
- playa: a nearly level area at the bottom of an undrained desert basin, sometimes temporarily covered with water
- Even though dinosaurs became extinct dozens of millions of years ago, their remnants, mainly in the forms of fossilized bones and footprints, allow us to infer many things about their lifestyles. The size of the prints can allow archaeologists to determine the size of their feet, and extrapolate that to their height, length, weight, body shape, and posture. They can also provide insight into how they walked and got around. Bones might give us a more accurate representation of their size and anatomy, especially when they are fully assembled into skeletons, but footprints should not be discounted, especially since they provide their own valuable information, and can even be correlated with the bones. On the other hand, these fossils cannot really tell us their specific diets; it can be inferred that they ate plants and animals based on their range of motion, but the exact species cannot be determined. Also, they cannot really tell us anything about their organs, internal body systems, or outer coverings or skin.