| Garudimimus Fossil range: Late Cretaceous | |
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| Scientific classification
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Garudimimidae | |
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Garudimimus ("Garuda mimic") is a basal member of Ornithomimosauria, known from single specimen discovered from Late Cretaceous sediments of Bayshin Tsav, Mongolia.
Discovery and naming[]
In 1981, during a Soviet-Mongolian expedition to the Gobi Desert, a theropod skeleton was discovered at Baishin Tsav in Ömnögovi Province. The same year this specimen was named and described by Rinchen Barsbold as the type species Garudimimus brevipes. The generic name combines a reference to the Garuda, winged creatures from Mongolian Buddhist mythology, with a Latin mimus, "mimic". The specific name is derived from Latin brevis, "short", and pes, "foot", referring to the short metatarsus.[1]
The holotype specimen, GIN 100/13, was uncovered in sediments of the Upper Cretaceous Bayan Shireh Formation the stratification of which is uncertain; its possible age ranges from the Cenomanian to the Campanian. It consists of a rather complete and articulated skeleton including the skull but lacking the shoulder girdle, forelimbs and tail end, of a subadult individual. The specimen is today usually seen as the only fossil known of Garudimimus, though Philip J. Currie once claimed that part of the Archaeornithomimus material belonged to Garudimimus. The skeleton was for the first time described in detail in works by Yoshitsugu Kobayashi from 2004[2] and 2005.
Description[]
This dinosaur was roughly 4 metres in length (13 feet), and may have been an omnivore. Garudimimus, an early ornithomimosaurian, appears to have not been as adapted for speed as more derived ornithomimids. It had relatively short legs, heavy feet, and in the hip, shorter ilia, the latter indicating that the musculature of the legs was not as well-developed as in more derived ornithomimids. The foot had four toes and a vestige of the first toe, whereas all other ornithomimids were three-toed with the first and fifth toe lost. The skull has a more rounded snout than others of the group, and larger eyes.[1]
Previously it was thought that this primitive member of Ornithomimosauria possessed a horn at the top of the skull. However, recent studies have shown that this "horn" was simply a misplaced skull bone.[2]
Phylogeny[]
References[]
- ^ Dixon, Dougal (2006). The Complete Book of Dinosaurs. London: Hermes House. p. 190. ISBN 0-681-37578-7.
- ^ Kobayashi, Y. and Barsbold, R. (2005). "Reexamination of a primitive ornithomimosaur, Garudimimus brevipes Barsbold, 1981 (Dinosauria:Theropoda), from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 42: 1501–1521.