---
title: Ascertain the anatomical criterion by which dinosaurs are distinguis… — Not dinosaurs at all: pterosaurs, ples… · tree and pragmatics
description: Ascertain the anatomical criterion by which dinosaurs are distinguished from other ancient reptiles. Exam question 3 of lesson 270 «Not dinosaurs at all: pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs and Mary Anning» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, with the dependency tree and pragmatics of the
---

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# Exam question 3 · Not dinosaurs at all: pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs a…

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Ascertain the anatomical criterion by which dinosaurs are distinguished from other ancient reptiles.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Mova's choice:** option 1 · **The right answer:** option 1 · right ✓ · **Who acts:** you, anatomical criterion · **What happens:** ascertain, distinguish · **To what, where:** anatomical criterion, dinosaurs

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This is exam question 3 of lesson 270 «Not dinosaurs at all: pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs and Mary Anning» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: [the test at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/270-not-dinosaurs-pterosaurs-plesiosaurs-mosasaurs-mary-anning/#e3).

## The question {#question}

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:270-not-dinosaurs-pterosaurs-plesiosaurs-mosasaurs-mary-anning:e3:1
# text = Ascertain the anatomical criterion by which dinosaurs are distinguished from other ancient reptiles.
1	Ascertain	ascertain	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
3	anatomical	anatomical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
4	criterion	criterion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	1	obj	_	_
5	by	by	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	obl	_	_
7	dinosaurs	dinosaur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj:pass	_	_
8	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	aux:pass	_	_
9	distinguished	distinguish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	4	acl:relcl	_	_
10	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
11	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	ancient	ancient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
13	reptiles	reptile	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	1	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ascertain** | imperative | you *not said here* | the anatomical criterion |  |  |  |  | vn discover-84 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent criterion=Topic |
| 2 | **distinguish** | present · passive | the anatomical criterion | dinosaurs |  |  |  | from other ancient reptiles | vn distinguish-23.5-1 «NP V NP.theme PP.co-theme»: agent=Agent subject=Theme from reptile=Co-Theme |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## The options {#options}

### Option 1 · ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer {#o1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Limbs held erect beneath the body, attested by an open hip socket

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:270-not-dinosaurs-pterosaurs-plesiosaurs-mosasaurs-mary-anning:e3:o1:1
# text = Limbs held erect beneath the body, attested by an open hip socket
1	Limbs	limb	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nsubj	_	_
2	held	hold	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	erect	erect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	xcomp	_	_
4	beneath	beneath	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
8	attested	attest	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	advcl	_	_
9	by	by	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
10	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
11	open	open	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	amod	_	_
12	hip	hip	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	compound	_	_
13	socket	socket	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hold** | past | Limbs |  |  | the body |  | erect *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme beneath body=Location |
| 2 | **attest** | participle | Limbs *not said here* |  |  |  |  | by a open hip socket | tree rules |

### Option 2 {#o2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The possession of scales covering the whole of the body

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:270-not-dinosaurs-pterosaurs-plesiosaurs-mosasaurs-mary-anning:e3:o2:1
# text = The possession of scales covering the whole of the body
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	possession	possession	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	of	of	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	scales	scale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	nmod	_	_
5	covering	cover	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	whole	whole	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	obj	_	_
8	of	of	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	body	body	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **cover** | gerund | the possession of scales *not said here* | the whole |  |  |  |  | vn fill-9.8-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme whole=Destination |
| 2 | **possess** |  |  | scales |  |  |  |  | nom possession «act transitive»: of=patient |

### Option 3 {#o3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A habitat confined to water, with limbs modified into flippers

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:270-not-dinosaurs-pterosaurs-plesiosaurs-mosasaurs-mary-anning:e3:o3:1
# text = A habitat confined to water, with limbs modified into flippers
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	habitat	habitat	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	confined	confine	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	2	acl	_	_
4	to	to	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	with	with	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	limbs	limb	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	_
9	modified	modify	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	into	into	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	flippers	flipper	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	obl	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **confine** | participle |  | a habitat *not said here* |  | water |  | with limbs | vn confine-92-1 «NP V NP PP.destination»: agent=Agent to water=Destination |
| 2 | **modify** | participle |  | limbs *not said here* |  | flippers |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

### Option 4 {#o4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Great size exceeding that of any other reptile, living or extinct

```conllu
# sent_id = question:biology:270-not-dinosaurs-pterosaurs-plesiosaurs-mosasaurs-mary-anning:e3:o4:1
# text = Great size exceeding that of any other reptile, living or extinct
1	Great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	amod	_	_
2	size	size	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
3	exceeding	exceed	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	2	acl	_	_
4	that	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	3	obj	_	_
5	of	of	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
6	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	8	det	_	_
7	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	reptile	reptile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
10	living	live	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	3	conj	_	_
11	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	12	cc	_	_
12	extinct	extinct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	conj	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **exceed** | gerund | Great size *not said here* | Great size |  |  |  |  | vn exceed-90 «NP V NP»: agent=Pivot that=Theme |
| 2 | **live** | gerund | Great size *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn exist-47.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |

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**Text:** the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (`world/data/school/`), as the course runner gave them to the student. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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- ↑ back to [Not dinosaurs at all: pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, mosasaurs and Mary Anning](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/questions/biology/270-not-dinosaurs-pterosaurs-plesiosaurs-mosasaurs-mary-anning/)