Gallimimus

Skeletal reconstruction of Gallimimus

• Mongolia

Gallimimus was a dinosaur genus from the group of Ornithomimosauria within the Theropoda. He lived during the Late Cretaceous in what is now East Asia.

Features

With a length of 4 to 6 meters Gallimimus was one of the greatest representatives of Ornithomimosauria, with his build, however, largely consistent with the other genera in agreement. He moved exclusively biped away (only on the hind legs ). These were long and thin, especially the lower legs were extended, which suggests that this dinosaur could run fast. The metatarsal bones were extended, the foot ended in three forward facing toes. His arms were like all Ornithomimosauriern relatively long, but built petite, of the other dinosaurs of this group Gallimimus differed by smaller hands.

The relatively small head perched on a long neck. The snout was elongated and at the top U-shaped, probably was there a horned beak. Like all Ornithomimidae he was toothless. The large eyes sat side of the head.

2001 Gallimimus a lamellar structure was discovered at the top of both jawbones. This structure could indicate a filtering food intake, that is, they would like a sieve works to fish small organisms from the water. A similar form of food intake is also found in modern birds, such as the Shoveler. It is also conceivable that this dinosaur was omnivorous and has also taken vegetable matter to him.

Discovery and designation

The fossil remains of Gallimimus were discovered in the Nemegt formation in the Mongolian province Ömnö Gobi aimag and first described in 1972. The name means " chicken copycat " and the tradition to name Ornithomimosauria than imitators ( - mimus ) of different birds. Type species and only known species is Gallimimus bullatus. The finds are dated to the Late Cretaceous (late Campanian to early Maastrichtian ) at an age of about 76 to 69 million years.