Ornithomimus

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Ornithomimus
Fossil range: Late Cretaceous

Extinct (fossil)

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Sauropsida
Superorder:	Dinosauria
Order:	Saurischia
Suborder:	Theropoda
Family:	Ornithomimidae
Genus:	Ornithomimus Marsh, 1890

Species

O. velox (type)
O. edmontonicus Sternberg, 1933

Ornithomimus (meaning 'bird mimic') is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period of what is now North America. Ornithomimus velox was named on the basis of a foot and partial hand from the Maastrichtian Denver Formation, but better material has since been found in Canada, including the Edmontonian-age Ornithomimus edmontonicus and an excellent articulated specimen (species unknown) from Dinosaur Provincial Park.

1 Description
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Description

Like other ornithomimids, Ornithomimus is characterized by a three-toed foot, long slender arms and a long neck with a birdlike skull. It differs from other ornithomimids, such as Struthiomimus, in having very slender, straight hand and foot claws and in having metacarpals and fingers of similar lengths. Its hands are remarkably sloth-like in appearance, which led Henry Fairfield Osborn to suggest that they were used to hook branches during feeding.

Ornithomimus was 12 ft (3.5 meters) long, 7 feet (2.10 meters) high and weighed around 100-150 kg. It was bipedal and superficially resembled an ostrich, except for its long tail. It would have been a swift runner.

[edit] References

Makovicky, P.J., Kobayashi, Y., and Currie, P.J. (2004). "Ornithomimosauria." In Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P., & Osmólska, H. (eds.), The Dinosauria (second edition). University of California Press, Berkeley: 137-150.