Struthiomimus
strooth-ee-uh-MY-mus
The name Struthiomimus means ‘ostrich mimic’, and was given to the genus thanks to its similarity to a modern-day ostrich, thanks to its extended neck and long hind legs – although it is significantly bigger than an ostrich, at around 4m in length and weighing up to 150kg. Struthiomimus is an herbivorous genus and feeds mainly on soft plants, as its jaw does not contain teeth.
Discovery
Struthiomimus was discovered in 1901, when Canadian geologist Lawrence Lamb unearthed an incomplete skeleton near to the Red Deer River valley in Alberta. The fossils were first believed to be a new species of Ornithomimus – it wasn’t until 1917 that it was classified as its own genus by American paleontologist Henry Fairfield Osborn.
Palaeoecology
Struthiomimus dates back to the Late Cretaceous period around 75m years ago, and lived in North America alongside a range of other dinosaurs including Edmontosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus and Dracorex – not to mention the feared apex predator Tyrannosaurus.
Information
- Era
- Late Cretaceous
- Family
- Ornithomimidae
- Genus
- Struthiomimus
- Height
- 2.3M
- Length
- 4.3M
- Weight
- 150Kg
- Diet
- Ground Paleobotany
- Egg batch size
- 3 - 5
