Struthiomimus

"ostrich mimic"

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Struthiomimus 4.3 m (14.1 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Struthiomimus
Length
4.3 m (14.1 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (77–66 Mya)
Place
North America
Food
Omnivore
Clade
Ornithomimidae
Struthiomimus reconstruction by Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com)
Reconstruction · Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com) (CC-BY)

Struthiomimus (meaning “ostrich mimic”, from the Ancient Greek στρούθειος/stroutheios, meaning “of the ostrich”, and μῖμος/mimos, meaning “mimic” or “imitator”) is a genus of ornithomimid dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous of what is now western North America. They were long-legged, bipedal, ostrich-like dinosaurs with toothless beaks. The type species, Struthiomimus altus, is one of the more common, smaller dinosaurs found in Dinosaur Provincial Park. Their overall abundance, in addition to their toothless beak, suggests that these animals were mainly herbivorous or (more likely) omnivorous, rather than purely carnivorous.

What we know

  • Named by (Lambe, 1902).
  • Body length estimated at about 4.3 m.
  • Fossils found in North America.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Struthiomimus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.