The Mesozoic Park: Gallimimus Common name: Gallimimus (Gal-ee-miem-us) Size: 4-6 metres (13-20 feet)

The Mesozoic Park: GallimimusCommon name: Gallimimus (Gal-ee-miem-us)Size: 4-6 metres (13-20 feet)Age: Cretaceous Period (75-70 million years ago)Geographic range: AsiaLiked: running really fast and pretending to be a birdDisliked: being chased like TarbosaurusTaxonomy: Animalia > Chordata > Archosauria > Saurischia > Ornithomimosauria (ostrich-like dinosaurs) > GallimimusGallimimus was a group of biped, ostrich-like dinosaurs that ran at speeds around 48-70 kph (30-43 mph). They had short arms with three fingers (similar to the t-rex), with a long tail for counterbalance. It also had hollow bones, supporting the theory of the Cursorial/Bottom-up origin of flight (See our origin of flight post here: http://on.fb.me/1JJdZiZ). The name “Gallimimus” means “rooster/chicken mimic.”Gallimimus ate an omnivorous diet consisting of small insects, lizards and eggs, as well as some seaweed and plants. Its mouth was unique in that it lacked teeth (unlike many dinosaurs). The bottom jaw was shaped like a shovel, which it used to hunt through water and sieved prey from the mud using comb-like plates in its mouth. Diet is highly debated though. The lack of teeth bring to question whether or not Gallimimus did or did not eat small animals, since it would have to swallow them whole.It is assumed that the Gallimimus was one of the more intelligent genera of the dinosaurs, as measured by its EQ (relative brain to body weight).Since the recent discovery of the prominence of feathers in dinosaurs, paleontologists are now questioning whether or not feathers were present on Gallimimus. Since it was fast-running biped, it is likely that feathers were present. However, some researchers debate that feather were only present in juveniles, and not retained in adults.~RosieImages: http://bit.ly/1K7lt2Ghttp://bit.ly/1RGYg9HReferences: http://bit.ly/1HeGMvxhttp://bit.ly/1L37d8Ehttp://bit.ly/1HeHpW1This article is a part of our “Mesozoic Park” series that is leading up to the release of Jurassic World. For more information, please see our introductory post at: http://on.fb.me/1ELwHW5 or if you already know about the series but missed a few articles you can find links to the first 10 posts at “Update #1,” here: http://on.fb.me/1ED1tOH -- source link

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