Gallimimus (
GAL-im-EYE-məs) is a
genus of
theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now
Mongolia during the
Late Cretaceous period, about seventy
million years ago (mya). Several fossils in various stages of growth were discovered by Polish-Mongolian expeditions in the
Gobi Desert of Mongolia during the 1960s; a large skeleton discovered in this region was made the
holotype specimen of the new genus and species
Gallimimus bullatus in 1972. The generic name means "
chicken mimic", referring to the similarities between its neck vertebrae and those of the
Galliformes. The specific name is derived from
bulla, a golden capsule worn by
Roman youth, in reference to a bulbous structure at the base of the skull of
Gallimimus. At the time it was named, the fossils of
Gallimimus represented the most complete and best preserved
ornithomimid ("
ostrich dinosaur") material yet discovered, and the genus remains one of the best known members of the group.
Gallimimus is the largest known
ornithomimid; adults were about 6 metres (20 ft) long, 1.9 metres (6 ft 3 in) tall at the hip and weighed about 400–490 kilograms (880–1,080 lb). As evidenced by its relative
Ornithomimus, it would have
had feathers. The head was small and light with large eyes that faced to the sides. The snout was long compared to other ornithomimids, although it was broader and more rounded at the tip than in other species.
Gallimimus was toothless with a
keratinous (horny) beak, and had a delicate lower jaw. Many of the
vertebrae had openings that indicate they were
pneumatic (air-filled). The neck was proportionally long in relation to the trunk. The hands were proportionally the shortest of any ornithomimosaur and each had three digits with curved claws. The forelimbs were weak while the hindlimbs were proportionally long. The family Ornithomimidae is part of the group
Ornithomimosauria.
Anserimimus, also from Mongolia, is thought to have been the closest relative of
Gallimimus. (
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