Archaeornithomimus
AR-kee-or-NITH-oh-MY-mus
Archaeornithomimus is a genus of bird-like theropod, with a sharp beak and long hind legs. Its size – this dinosaur weighs between 100 and 200lbs and reaches around 3.3m in length – and physical features led to its name, which translates to ‘ancient bird mimic’. Archaeornithomimus had an omnivorous diet consisting of everything from plants to eggs and even other juvenile dinosaurs.
Discovery
Remains of Archaeornithomimus have been found across Asia, with fossils found in China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The first discovery came in 1923, when Roy Chapman Andrews unearthed the bones of a new species, originally named Ornithomimus asiaticus. The prefix ‘archae’ (‘ancient’) was added in 1972, underlining Archaeornithomimus’ status as one of the oldest known species of Ornithomimid.
Palaeoecology
This dinosaur lived in Asia between 70 and 95 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period and preferred to live along the floodplains of rivers, where vegetation would be easy to come by. Archaeornithomimus co-existed in this period with many other dinosaurs including Gigantoraptor, Bactrosaurus and Sonidosaurus.
Information
- Era
- Late Cretaceous
- Family
- Ornithomimidae
- Genus
- Archaeornithomimus
- Height
- 2.2M
- Length
- 3.3M
- Weight
- 50Kg
- Diet
- Ground Paleobotany
- Egg batch size
- 3 - 6
