Gallimimus bullatus GAL-ih-MIME-us
"Chicken mimic"
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Gallimimus 6 m (19.7 ft) long
4 people holding hands
- Length
- 6 m (19.7 ft) — About 6 m long, ~400 kg — ostrich-shaped.
- Period
- Late Cretaceous (70–69 Mya)
- Place
- Asia · Mongolia
- Food
- Omnivore — Probably plants, insects, small animals, and eggs — modern ostriches eat similarly.
Gallimimus looked like a giant ostrich with a long tail. It had a toothless beak, big eyes, and long legs built for running. It was one of the fastest dinosaurs known — estimates put its top speed somewhere between 40 and 60 km/h. Gallimimus is the dinosaur Dr. Grant and the kids see running in a flock during Jurassic Park.
What we know
- One of the largest ornithomimosaurs — the 'ostrich dinosaurs'.
- Toothless beak, suggesting a mixed diet of plants and small animals.
- Long legs with proportions matching modern fast-running birds.
- Many specimens known, from juveniles to adults.
What we guess
- Whether it ate mostly plants, mostly small animals, or both.
- Top running speed — estimates vary from 40 to 60 km/h depending on the bone-strength model.
- Whether Gallimimus had simple feathers or filaments — almost certain but not yet preserved.