⊛ Gallimimus – Resumenea

What is a Gallimimus?

It was an ornithomimid dinosaur that lived in the Cretaceous period and is the largest ostrich dinosaur discovered so far. It differs from its relatives such as Ornithomimus and Struthiomimus by its long snout that ended in a wide, flat-topped beak.

He also had hands designed for grasping. He could dig up other dinosaurs that were hidden in the ground with his shovel-like hands, aided by his heavy beak.

Finding of the Gallimimus

In 1963, the first specimens of this genus of dinosaurs were found. The discovery was made by Professor Zofía Kielan Jaworowska, who found the fossil remains in Tsagan Khunsu in what was an expedition of Poles and Mongols. Although it was not made known until 1965

They were incomplete remains that were considered the holotype specimen. It consisted of a skull and a lower jaw. Along with these, incomplete remains of the same genus were found and were also exposed to complete analysis.

It was named later in 1972. Those in charge were the paleontologists Halsza Osmólska, Rinche Barsbold and Ewa Roniéwics, who also described it. Until now, only the holotype specimen known as Gallimimus bullatus.

They were discovered in the Nemegt Formation in the Mongolian province of Ömnö-Gobi-Aimag. The finds date back to the end of the Upper Cretaceous and They have an age of 72 to 69 million years.

What does Gallimimus mean?

Its name comes from Latin gallus What does it mean chicken or hen and of mimus What does it mean mock. Therefore this dinosaur is called chicken imitator.

It was named this way because the neural arches they have in their vertebrae are similar to those of the chickens we know today.

The Ornithomimidae family

Gallimimus is part of the Ornitomimidae family, which was a group of light theropods with special adaptations. It was one of the most common types of dinosaurs towards the end of the Cretaceous.

Gallimimus was one of the largest of the group, although not the largest of all. Specimens in this group could measure up to six meters in length. One particular specimen measured 8 meters in length.

Mongolia appears to have had the right conditions for strange giant dinosaur genera. Another example from this area was the Gigantoraptor, which was a giant oviraptorid.

The key to ornithomimid survival was speed. Their legs, especially the lower ones, were long and capable of covering a lot of ground with each stride. The bones, as was usual in theropods, were hollow. In this way they reduced the total weight of the body so that it required less energy to move and they could run at high speed.

Its body was proportionally longer than other related genera. This may have impacted how tightly the Gallimimus could have turned. It didn’t seem to be a big obstacle, but considering that Mongolia during the Cretaceous was an open arid plain, it could be important for its survival.

Characteristics of Gallimimus

Although it is not always possible to have complete fossil remains, paleontology specialists have managed to determine their most important characteristics. These are the following.

Classification

Gallimimus was one of the most popular of the ornithomimid dinosaurs. It is also known as ostrich dinosaur. The members of this family had a constitution similar to that of the ostriches we know today. Their legs and necks were very long, while their beaks and heads were small.

Confusion with Gallimimus

The front arms and beak of Gallimimus caused some debate among paleontologists. The first assumption upon finding these remains was that the short three-toed forelimbs were used for hunting and feeding on the dense undergrowth common in the area. It was also thought to be ideal for sifting out tiny aquatic creatures, such as mollusks, vegetation or insects.

It is now commonly believed that the adaptation was an unused characteristic of the family Ornitominidae to which it belonged. This is evidenced by the presence of similar structures in known herbivorous animals, which casts doubt on whether they had this type of diet. That is why the classification of their diet is still a matter of debate.

When and where did you live?

Gallimimus is one of the youngest dinosaurs that existed on earth. However, they lived about 70 million years ago, during the Upper Cretaceous.

They lived in modern-day Mongolia in Asia, which was where most of their fossil remains were found.

Habitat

Everything seems to indicate that he lived in an area with a large number of streams, canals, rivers and shallow lakes. Therefore they traveled long distances where vegetation abounded. They had large supplies of water at their disposal where they could find aquatic organisms to eat.

Size and physical characteristics

Their length could reach 6 meters and they weighed around 120 kg. It had an elongated snout that developed more during adulthood. To compensate for the mass of the torso and skull.

It had a thick, sinuous tail, which it used for balance. Her eyes were placed on opposite sides of the skull, ensuring that her vision was better at detecting movement around her.

It may not have had the binocular vision of an eagle but it made up for it with its pack mentality and its large numbers in groups.

Added to this is that They had long arms and fingersfeatures that could have been used to pick up plants from the ground or even grab eggs.

Motion

Gallimimus was bipedal, so it moved on the ground on its two legs and toes. It could move at high speed, which was around 60 km/h. Its speed can be deduced from the similarity of the proportion of its legs with other fast animals, such as ostriches and horses. This allowed it to catch prey and effectively flee from predators.

Feeding

On several occasions it has been described as carnivorous, omnivorous and herbivorous. Although the biggest tendency is to think that it was omnivorous. In 2001, the beak of a specimen that had soft tissue preserved assumed the same types of cerval ridges that ducks used to strain plants and meat such as mollusks.

The environment in which it lived also indicates to paleontologists that it was an omnivore since its region would have contained a lot of water. This suggests that the similarity of its beak to the duck’s beak was not just a coincidence.

It is also believed that it could have been herbivorous due to the fact that other herbivores had similar qualities in the mouth.

As with all ornithomimids, there is no universal agreement on what Gallimimus actually ate. Its overall skull size is small in proportion to its body, but the snout is even longer than most of its type.

Their jaws were molded into a toothless keratinous beak, lacking teeth of a certain type. That is why it is not possible to know with certainty what it fed on. There is also no evidence of her stomach remains to determine this precisely.

It is possible that its beak was used to collect plant parts or to accumulate small animals.. The size of the skull, although small, was large enough to be made from lizards, snakes and even small mammals.

Their predators

There were two dinosaurs that Gallimimus had to fear. These were the Saurornithoides and the Tarbosaurus. They were voracious carnivores that lived in Mongolia in the same era. Luckily he was a great runner, a strategy that allowed him to defend himself against his attackers.

Life expectancy

It is not possible to know the life expectancy of this dinosaur. But it is estimated that it lived between 10 and 20 years, otherwise it died first at the hands of other predators.

Why did Gallimimus become extinct?

There are many conjectures about the cause that killed Gallimimus. Most point to it becoming extinct due to an unfavorable climate on Earth, which resulted from an asteroid collision.

Its body structure was also relatively weaker compared to other dinosaurs.. Her brain bone was hollow and she mostly ate less nutritious food.

Their search for food on the ground didn’t help them much, so this ostrich-like dinosaur also swallowed rocks and stones. But this did not help him survive the changes in his environment.