Gallimimus by AQ, ZT1 Dino Digs Options

[Atlantean_Queen]

Gallimimus

Late Cretaceous

Asia (Mongolia)

Gallimimus is the largest ornithomimosaur known.
It was about 13 ft- to 20 ft/ 4 to 6 m long and weighed as much as 970 pds. / 440 kg.

It was bird-like in appearance with a small head, large eyes on the sides of its head, and a long neck. It had a long snout ending in a flat-tipped, broad beak, spade-like hands on short arms that were poor at grasping and a long tail.
Gallimimus had hollow bones like most birds of today.
Due to its long legs and shot toes, it could run fast, but how fast is unknown.

It is not known at this time, but believed that it may have been a specialized feeder, using its hands to unearth other dinosaurs’ eggs or an herbivore grasping plants with its beak.

“The fossil remains of this dinosaur were discovered in the early 1970s in the Gobi Desert. In 1972, it was named by paleontologists Rinchen Barsbold, Halszka Osmólska, and Ewa Roniewicz. The only known species is Gallimimus bullatus. A supposed second species, "Gallimimus mongoliensis", has never been formally referred to this genus. A recent reanalysis of the nearly complete skeleton of "Gallimimus mongoliensis" concluded that it is not a species of Gallimimus but may represent a new, currently unnamed ornithoimimid genus (Kobayashi & Barsbold, 2006).”

credits: Simon & Schuster Dino Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.com. cmstudio, swau.edu, venado.conce.com

This post has been edited by Atlantean_Queen: Feb 1 2009, 03:24 PM

[marlizdu]

Great write up AQ. I love to use these in my zoos. Of course I love all the Dino's!!!