Genus
Valid Extinct

Ornithomimus

Marsh 1890
Etymology Imitateur d’oiseau

Ornithomimus is a genus of ornithomimid theropod dinosaurs from the Campanian and Maastrichtian ages of the Late Cretaceous in western North America. Ornithomimus was a swift, bipedal dinosaur which was covered in feathers and equipped with a small toothless beak that may indicate an omnivorous diet. It is usually classified into two species: the type species, Ornithomimus velox, and a referred species, Ornithomimus edmontonicus.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
35
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore, omnivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Ornithomimus
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Wikimedia
PBDB Wikipedia
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
Theropoda Unranked clade
Ornithomimosauria Unranked clade
Ornithomimidae Family
Ornithomimus Genus
Measurements
Length
2,45 m
Ornithomimus velox
4 m
Mass
22 kg
Ornithomimus velox
Fossil sites 35 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇺🇸 United States
24
🇨🇦 Canada
11
Geological formations
Lance
9
Denver
4
Tar Heel
2
Temporal distribution
Maastrichtian (72.2–66 Ma)
23
Campanian (83.6–72.2 Ma)
12
Species (8)
Ornithomimus edmontonicus 84 Ma
Ornithomimus minutus 72 Ma
Ornithomimus sedens nomen dubium, species not entered Ornithomimus 72 Ma
Ornithomimus tenuis 84 Ma
Ornithomimus velox 72 Ma
Struthiomimus currellii subjective synonym of Ornithomimus edmontonicus 84 Ma
Struthiomimus ingens subjective synonym of Ornithomimus edmontonicus 84 Ma
Struthiomimus samueli subjective synonym of Ornithomimus edmontonicus 84 Ma
Synonyms (1)
Ornithomimus sedens nomen dubium, species not entered Ornithomimus
Images 4
Bibliography
Original description
O. C. Marsh. 1890. Description of new dinosaurian reptiles. The American Journal of Science, series 3 39:81-86 DOI ↗
Bibliography (26)
R. E. Nottrodt. 2022. First articulated ornithomimid specimens from the upper Maastrichtian Scollard Formation of Alberta, Canada. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 41(5):e2019754:1-15 DOI ↗
W. W. Stein. 2021. The paleontology, geology and taphonomy of the Tooth Draw Deposit; Hell Creek Formation (Maastrictian), Butte County, South Dakota. The Journal of Paleontological Sciences JPS.C.21:0001:1-108
L. P. A. Claessens and M. A. Loewen. 2016. A redescription of Ornithomimus velox Marsh, 1890 (Dinosauria, Theropoda). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36(1):e1034593:1-15 DOI ↗
A. J. van der Reest, A. P. Wolfe, and P. J. Currie. 2016. A densely feathered ornithomimid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation, Alberta, Canada. Cretaceous Research 58:108-117 DOI ↗
N. R. Longrich, K. Barnes, and S. Clark, L. Millar. 2013. Caenagnathidae from the upper Campanian Aguja Formation of west Texas, and a revision of the Caenagnathinae. Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History 54(1):23-49 DOI ↗
C. D. Crane. 2011. Vertebrate Paleontology and Taphonomy of the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) Bladen Formation, Bladen County, North Carolina.
R. A. Stockey, G. W. Rothwell, and K. R. Johnson. 2007. Cobbania corrugata gen. et comb. nov. (Araceae): a floating aquatic monocot from the Upper Cretaceous of western North America. American Journal of Botany 94(4):609-624 DOI ↗
K. Carpenter and D. B. Young. 2002. Late Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Denver Basin, Colorado. Rocky Mountain Geology 37(2):237-254 DOI ↗
J. A. Lillegraven and J. J. Eberle. 1999. Vertebrate faunal changes through Lancian and Puercan time in southern Wyoming. Journal of Paleontology 73(4):691-710 DOI ↗
K. L. Derstler. 1994. Dinosaurs of the Lance Formation in eastern Wyoming. Wyoming Geological Association Forty-Fourth Annual Field Conference. Wyoming Geological Association Guidebook 44:127-146
S. G. Lucas, N. J. Mateer, and A. P. Hunt, F. M. O.'Neill. 1987. Dinosaurs, the age of the Fruitland and Kirtland Formations, and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. J. E. Fassett and J. K. Rigby, Jr. (eds.), The Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in the San Juan and Raton Basins, New Mexico and Colorado, Geological Society of America Special Paper 209:35-50 DOI ↗
J. S. McIntosh. 1981. Annotated catalogue of the dinosaurs (Reptilia, Archosauria) in the collections of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History 18:1-67 DOI ↗
D. Baird and J. R. Horner. 1979. Cretaceous dinosaurs of North Carolina. Brimleyana 2:1-28
D. A. Russell. 1972. Ostrich dinosaurs from the late Cretaceous of western Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 9:375-402 DOI ↗
L. S. Russell. 1967. Palaeontology of the Swan Hills area, north-central Alberta. Life Science Contribution, Royal Ontario Museum 71:1-31 DOI ↗
H. W. Miller. 1966. Cretaceous vertebrate fauna from Phoebus Landing, North Carolina. The Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 82(2):93
R. Estes. 1964. Fossil vertebrates from the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation, eastern Wyoming. University of California Publications in Geological Sciences 49:1-187
W. A. Parks. 1933. New species of dinosaurs and turtles from the Upper Cretaceous formations of Alberta. University of Toronto Studies, Geological Series 34:1-33
C. M. Sternberg. 1933. A new Ornithomimus with complete abdominal cuirass. The Canadian Field-Naturalist 47(5):79-83 DOI ↗
W. A. Parks. 1928. Struthiomimus samueli, a new species of Ornithomimidae from the Belly River Formation of Alberta. University of Toronto Studies, Geology Series 26:1-24
C. M. Sternberg. 1924. Report on a collection of vertebrates from Wood Mountain, southern Saskatchewan, collected by C. M. Sternberg, 1921. Canada Department of Mines Geological Survey Bulletin (Geological Series) 38(43):27-28
C. W. Gilmore. 1920. Osteology of the carnivorous Dinosauria in the United States National Museum, with special reference to the genera Antrodemus (Allosaurus) and Ceratosaurus. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 110:1-154 DOI ↗
D. E. Winchester, C. J. Hares, and E. R. Lloyd, E. M. Parks. 1916. The lignite field of northwestern South Dakota. United States Geological Survey Bulletin 627:1-169
T. W. Stanton. 1909. The age and stratigraphic relationships of the "Ceratops beds" of Wyoming and Montana. Proceedings of the Washington Academy of Sciences 11(3):239-293
O. C. Marsh. 1892. Notice of new reptiles from the Laramie Formation. American Journal of Science 43:449-453 DOI ↗
O. C. Marsh. 1890. Description of new dinosaurian reptiles. The American Journal of Science, series 3 39:81-86 DOI ↗