About: Ornithomimiformes

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Ornithomimosaurs (meaning 'bird mimic lizards') or members of the clade Ornithomimosauria are theropod dinosaurs, like Gallimimus, which bore a superficial resemblance to modern ostriches. They were fast, fleet-footed, omnivorous or herbivorous dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous Period of Laurasia (now Asia, Europe and North America). The skull, sitting atop a long neck, was relatively small, with large eyes. Some primitive species had teeth but most had toothless beaks.

Attributes	Values
rdfs:label	Ornithomimiformes
rdfs:comment	Ornithomimosaurs (meaning 'bird mimic lizards') or members of the clade Ornithomimosauria are theropod dinosaurs, like Gallimimus, which bore a superficial resemblance to modern ostriches. They were fast, fleet-footed, omnivorous or herbivorous dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous Period of Laurasia (now Asia, Europe and North America). The skull, sitting atop a long neck, was relatively small, with large eyes. Some primitive species had teeth but most had toothless beaks.
dcterms:subject	dbkwik:resource/jvt1iO8-F_Yy9L5_j--sOA==
dbkwik:paleontolog...iPageUsesTemplate	dbkwik:resource/6bPl8hXip2nSyBiLCo3ghA==
subdivision ranks	Family (biology)
Name	Ornithomimosaurs
subordo	Theropoda
ordo	Saurischia
fossil range	Cretaceous
Image caption	Gallimimus skeleton at the Natural History Museum, London.
superordo	Dinosaur
infraordo	Coelurosauria Ornithomimosauria
subdivision	* Harpymimidae * Deinocheiridae * Ornithomimidae
infraordo authority	Barsbold, 1976
Color	pink
Image width	200(xsd:integer)
classis	Sauropsida
Phylum	Chordate
regnum	Animalia
abstract	Ornithomimosaurs (meaning 'bird mimic lizards') or members of the clade Ornithomimosauria are theropod dinosaurs, like Gallimimus, which bore a superficial resemblance to modern ostriches. They were fast, fleet-footed, omnivorous or herbivorous dinosaurs from the Upper Cretaceous Period of Laurasia (now Asia, Europe and North America). The skull, sitting atop a long neck, was relatively small, with large eyes. Some primitive species had teeth but most had toothless beaks. The fore limbs ('arms') were long and slender and bore powerful claws. The hind limbs were long and powerful, with a long foot and short, strong toes terminating in hooflike claws. Ornithomimosaurs were probably among the fastest of all dinosaurs. Like many other coelurosaurs, the ornithomimid hide was probably feathered rather than scaly. The group first appeared in the Lower Cretaceous and persisted until the Upper Cretaceous. They appear to be related to less-derived coelurosaurian theropods such as Compsognathus and tyrannosaurids. Primitive members of the group include Pelecanimimus, Shenzhousaurus, Harpymimus and probably the huge Deinocheirus, the arms of which reached eight feet in length. More advanced species, members of the family ornithomimidae, include Gallimimus, Archaeornithomimus, Anserimimus, Struthiomimus, and Ornithomimus. Ornithomimosaurs probably acquired most of their calories from plants but may have eaten small vertebrates and insects as well. Henry Fairfield Osborn suggested that the long, sloth-like 'arms' may have been used to pull down branches on which to feed. They may also have constituted a dangerous weapon. The sheer abundance of ornithomimids — they are the most common small dinosaurs in North America — is consistent with the idea that they were plant eaters, as herbivores usually outnumber carnivores in an ecosystem. The presence of gastroliths in the stomach of some ornithomimids fit this hypothesis. Some paleontologists, like Paul Sereno, consider the enigmatic alvarezsaurids to be close relatives of the ornithomimosaurs and place them together in the superfamily Ornithomimoidea (see classification below).

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