Gallimimus Characteristics

Gallimimus measured 13 - 20 feet (4 to 6 metres) in length and weighed around 440 kilograms (970 pounds), it was one of the largest ornithomimosaurs. Gallimimus was a lightly-built, fast-running theropod with a long, thin, flat toothless beak. The bottom of their beak was shaped a little like a shovel. Gallimimus had a small head, however, its brain was relatively large and its intelligence was high among dinosaurs. Their eyes were located on opposite sides of their head so it was ruled out that this dinosaur could have had binocular vison (depth perception).

Gallimimus had long thin legs with 3 claws on each foot, a long neck and a long tail which acted as a counter-balance during fast manouvers. Their short arms featured 3 clawed fingers on each hand. Gallimimus had hollow bones just like modern birds (although Gallimimus was not itself an ancestor of birds), which made them fast and agile and allowing them to be able to run at speeds of 70 kilometres per hour (43 miles per hour). It was bipedal and walked on 2 legs only. Gallimimus is known from multiple individuals, ranging from juvenile (about 0.5 metres tall at the hip) to adult (about 2 metres tall at the hip).

Gallimimus was an omnivore (eating plants and animals). Its diet would have consisted of insects, lizards, eggs, seeds and plant material, practically anything it could find. Gallimimus could dig things up with its beak from beneath the sand and most probably dug up other dinosaur eggs to feed on.

Several Gallimimus fossils have been found in the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.

Gallimimus was named by paleontologists Rinchen Barsbold, Halszka Osmólska, and Ewa Roniewicz in 1972. Several fossils have been found in Mongolia.