Dromiceiomimus

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Dromiceiomimus Fossil range: Late Cretaceous
Life restoration of Dromiceiomimus brevitertius
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Sauropsida Subclass: Diapsida Superorder: Dinosauria Order: Saurischia Suborder: Theropoda Family: Ornithomimidae Genus: Dromiceiomimus
Binomial name
Dromiceiomimus brevitertius Parks, 1926

Dromiceiomimus (IPA: /dɹɒmɪˌsiəˈmaɪməs/; meaning "Emu mimic") was a swift bipedal dinosaur from the late Cretaceous period, about 80 to 65 million years ago. It was about 12 feet (3.6 m) long and weighed about 220 to 330 pounds (100 to 150 kg). Its femur (thigh bone) was 468 mm long. This ornithomimid (a bird-like theropod) had very long limbs, a large brain and large eyes. It had a toothless, beaked mouth, and weak jaws; it may have eaten insects, eggs and some meat. Compared to other ornithomimosaurs it had a short back, long slender forearms, very large eye sockets and differently arranged pelvic bones.

Canadian palaeontologist Dale Russell has suggested that the animals were entirely carnivorous, feeding from eggs and small animals dug from nests. This view is still debated; their body shape would also have been suited for a partly herbivorous lifestyle. The large eye sockets suggest a keen visual sense, and also suggest the possibility that they were nocturnal.

[edit] Discovery

The first fossil remains of this genus were discovered in the 1920s, and originally named Struthiomimus brevitertius and S. samueli. It was renamed by Russell in 1972 to D. brevitertius after an extensive review of North American ornithomimosaurs, which he reclassified into three genera: Dromiceiomimus, Ornithomimus, and Struthiomimus. Fossils of adults and juveniles have been found in Horeshoe Canyon and Alberta, Canada's Judith River Formation.

[edit] Trivia

Dinosaur Comics features a Dromiceiomimus as a main character. She shares the top right panel, looking over her shoulder as the Tyrannosaurus rex is about to step on a house.