I Know Dino Podcast: Gallimimus


Episode 26 is all about Gallimimus, a dinosaur that was similar to a hen.

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On this episode, we focus on:

  • The dinosaur of the day: Gallimimus, whose title means “hen mimic”
  • First discovered within the Gobi Desert in August 1963
  • Gallimimus was named in 1972 by Halszka Osmólska, Ewa Roniewicz, and Rinchen Barsbold
  • The title “mimus” comes from the truth that vertebral arch of its entrance neck seems to be just like a Galliformes (Galliformes are an order of birds that feed on the bottom, and embody chickens, turkeys, and quails)
  • Kind species is Gallimimus bullatus
  • Species title comes from Latin “bulla”, which one that means refers to an amulet worn by historical Roman boys as a safety in opposition to evil spirits. The Gallimimus bullatis is said due to the bizarre capsule occurring within the base of it’s cranium
  • Holotype specimen has a partial skeleton (cranium and decrease jaws)
  • Rinchen Barsbold nearly named a second species of Gallimimus, known as mongoliensis, however determined it was as a substitute an unknown ornithomimid
  • Lived in Mongolia; Late Cretaceous, 71-69 million years in the past
  • Present in Nemegt formation, which in all probability had numerous meals, stream and river channels, mudflats, and shallow lakes
  • Appeared like massive ostrich (with claws and tail)
  • Much like different dinosaurs: Pelicanmimus, Struthiomimus, Ornithomimus (pelican mimic, ostrich mimic, chicken mimic)
  • 26 ft lengthy; 500 kilos, bipedal
  • Had lengthy legs, neck, and tail, and hole bones
  • Unsure how briskly it might run (one supply suggests 30 mph)
  • Hole bones to cut back weight, so much less power wanted to run quick
  • Lived on open arid plain, really easy to run
  • Tail helped counterbalance and helped it make quick turns
  • Had brief arms, with three clawed fingers on every hand, and three clawed toes on every foot
  • Had a small head, however a comparatively giant mind
  • No tooth in its mouth
  • Gallimimus might have had a beak like a contemporary duck, based mostly on a discovery of by in 2001 Pete Mackavicky, from the Discipline Museum in Chicago (dinosaur had comfortable tissues within the cranium, which confirmed traces of a beak alongside its jaw; the beak was in all probability composed of keratin); it additionally had a comb-like plate within the jaw, just like the filter-feeding construction of a duck’s invoice, which strains meals from water and sediment
  • In line with Norwegian paleontologist Jørn Hurum, a number of the bones in Gallimimus’s beak and decrease jaw have been very skinny, solely a fe millimeters
  • Backside of its beak was formed like a shovel
  • Inflexible jaw, so might solely actually open and shut mouth
  • Unsure what it ate (small cranium proportionately however lengthy snout; might have used beak to select up crops or small animals (lizards, snakes, mammals–however would have been arduous to swallow, no tooth)
  • Initially thought to have eaten small animals, however controversy over what it really ate (omnivore or herbivore)
  • Might have used versatile arms to get fruit, catch and maintain prey, and dig grime
  • In the event that they hunted, they could have picked up small animal, thrown it to the bottom; may additionally have stolen different dinosaurs’ eggs from nests
  • Although it had a filter-feeding mechanims, so extra possible it was an omnivore than herbivore (although comparable beaks present in herbivorous sea turtles, and in Edmontosaurus
  • Had eyes on reverse sides of its head
  • Large area of view (due to eyes on both facet of head), so might simply spot threats, however didn’t have a lot depth notion, like different predators
  • No binocular imaginative and prescient
  • Quick runner; comparable leg proportions to ostriches; good for catching prey and operating away from Tarbosaurus
  • One of many largest ornithomimosaurs
  • Ornithomimids have been one of the crucial widespread dinosaurs by the tip of the Cretaceous
  • Numerous Gallimimus bones discovered, juveniles and adults
  • Juveniles about 0.5 meters tall on the hip, and adults 2 m tall on the hip
  • Might have had primitive downy feathers as juveniles (unclear as adults, although bigger animals want fewer feathers for insulation)
  • Not well-known till Jurassic Park in 1993
  • In Jurassic Park, greater than 2 dozen Gallimimus stampede; crew filmed themselves pretending to run like Gallimimus to assist them animate the scene
  • Gallimimus was the one dinosaur in Jurassic Park that was utterly CGI; might have additionally been in Jurassic Park III, as a decomposing embryo
  • Gallimimus additionally appeared in Land Earlier than Time (not the unique); they’re recognized within the motion pictures as Rainbow Faces as a result of they’ve striped beaks within the film; first seen in Land Earlier than Time VII
  • Official description at http://www.palaeontologia.pan.pl/Archive/1972-27_103-143_29-53.pdf
  • Ornithomimids have lengthy arms, lengthy necks, and lengthy legs
  • They lived in Asia and North America within the late Cretaceous
  • Some species of ornithomimids might have been taller than T-rex
  • Ornithomimids ate with gastroliths
  • One other sort of ornithomimid is Deinocheirus
  • Enjoyable reality: In line with paleontologist Bhart-Anjan Bhullar, “There are between 10,000 and 20,000 species of birds alive right this moment, at the very least twice as many as the full variety of mammal species, and so in some ways it’s nonetheless the Age of Dinosaurs”



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