The Gallimimus Dinosaur Could Run 43 MPH!

The gallimimus is a fast moving bipedal dinosaur that lived during the Cretaceous period in Mongolia, along with the velociraptor.

The gallimimus belongs to the ornithomimosaurs family. This group of dinosaurs had toothless beaks and slender feet, making them look a bit bird-like. They also had typical dinosaur features - claws and a long tail. In fact, ornithomimosaur literally means "bird-mimic reptile".

A gallimimus could grow to 13 feet long, and maybe as much as 20 feet long. They were about 6 feet high at the hip. These dinosaurs weighed about 970 pounds. Their faces were marked by a long, beak-like snout. Their hands worked well for digging, but didn't grasp things very well. Some think a gallimimus may have used its hands and beak to its advantage by digging up various dinosaur eggs and cracking them open.

The gallimimus' long limbs, long shin bone, long foot bones (metatarsus) and short toes may have made them fast runners. Their bones were hollow, which is similar to the bones of modern birds.

The arms of a gallimimus were short, and each hand had three claws. Their feet also had three claws. Similar to a velociraptor, they also had long tails for counterbalance and easy turning. Their wrists were mobile, which may have given them some added dexterity.

A gallimimus has been described as ostrich-like. Both creatures held their heads high above their shoulders. The gallimimus had a flexible neck that allowed it to swivel its head easily. This, combined with its long neck, made for good vision, despite its eyes being on the sides of the head.

In addition to eating dinosaur eggs, a gallimimus may have also eaten small animals such as lizards or bugs. They may have used the comb-like plates in their mouths to separate plant material from mud, making plants easier to consume.

Gallimimuses were bipedal and just as fast as their contemporaries, the velociraptors. A gallimimus could reach a top speed of 43 miles per hour, which is about as fast as an ostrich.

The first gallimimus fossil was found in the early 1970s, in the Gobi desert. In 1972, Rinchen Barsbold, Ewa Roniewicz, and Halszka Osmolska gave the dinosaur its name. The gallimimus lived in Mongolia.

The gallimimus was featured in the film Jurassic Park. A herd of them run across an open space, away from a T Rex; one ultimately fell prey to the predator. In reality the carnosaurs and dromaeosaurs were probably the chief predators of the gallimimus.

Sources:
http://www.dinosaurjungle.com/dinosaur_species_gallimimus.php
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/dinosaurs/dinos/Gallimimus.shtml
1,001 Facts About Dinosaurs; Clark, Neil and Lindsay, William; DK Publishing, Inc., 2002