Ornithomimus
| Ornithomimus Temporal range: Upper Cretaceous
75–65.5 mya | |
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| Display at the Royal Ontario Museum | |
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| Genus: | Ornithomimus
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Ornithomimus was a lightly built fast-running North American feathered dinosaur.
Ornithomimus had three toes on each foot, long arms and neck, but a small head. It also had claws on each hand and foot. It had no teeth and weak jaws, which might mean it was omnivorous.
Ornithomimus edmonticus was the largest species, 12 ft (3.5 meters) long, 7 feet (2.10 meters) high and weighed about 100-150 kg. It walked on two legs and looked slightly like an ostrich, except for its long tail.
There has been trouble with naming. Some speciments are put in other genera, like Dromiceiomimus and Struthiomimus.[1]
Feathers
[change | change source]In 1995, 2008 and 2009, three O. edmontonicus specimens with evidence of feathers were found. Two adults had quill knobs on the lower arm, indicating the former presence of bird-like feather shafts. A juvenile had impressions of long fluffy feathers in the form of hair-like filaments covering the rump, legs and neck.
The feather imprints were found in sandstone, previously thought to not be able to support such impressions.[2]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Claessens L; Loewen M. and Lavender Z. 2011. A re-evaluation of the genus Ornithomimus based on new preparation of the holotype of O. velox and new fossil discoveries. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, SVP Program and Abstracts Book, 2011, pp. 90.
- ↑ Zelenitsky D.K. et al 2012. Feathered non-avian dinosaurs from North America provide insight into wing origins. Science 338 (6106): 510–514. [1]
Other websites
[change | change source]- Ornithomimus in The Dinosaur Encyclopaedia Archived 2007-10-04 at the Wayback Machine at Dino Russ' Lair