Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 117, September 2014, pp. 1-33. | Page 9

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Deinocheirus, the arms of which reached eight feet in length. More advanced
species, members of the family ornithomimidae, include Gallimimus,
Archaeornithomimus, Anserimimus, Struthiomimus, and Ornithomimus (Wikipedia;
Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2006).
Ornithomimosaurs probably got most of their calories from plants but may have
eaten small vertebrates and insects as well. Henry Fairfield Osborn suggested
that the long, sloth-like arms may have been used to pull down branches for
ornithomimosaurs to feed on; it may also have been a dangerous weapon. The
sheer abundance of ornithomimids — they are the most common small
dinosaurs in North America — are consistent with the idea that they were plant
eaters, as herbivores usually outnumber carnivores in an ecosystem. The
presence of gastroliths in the stomach of some ornithomimids fit this hypothesis
(Wikipedia; Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2006).
Some paleontologists, like Paul Sereno, consider the enigmatic alvarezsaurids to
be close relatives of the ornithomimosaurs, and places them together in the
superfamily Ornithomimoidea (Wikipedia; Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2006).

Struthiomimus:
Struthiomimus (―Ostrich-mimic‖) was a long-legged, ostrich-like dinosaur of the
family Ornithomimidae, which lived in Alberta, Canada during the Late
Cretaceous period, about 85 to 80 million years ago. It was about 1.50 meters (5
feet) tall at the hips and weighed around 250 kg (500 lbs). Struthiomimus is one
of the more common small dinosaurs in Dinosaur Provincial Park; its abundance
suggests that it was an herbivore or an omnivore rather than a carnivore. It most
likely lived on a diet of lizards, small mammals, fruits, and seeds, although some
scientists theorize that it may have used its hooked claws to dig up clams and
other shellfish, or possibly eggs (Wikipedia; Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2006).
The legs were long, powerful and seemingly well-suited to rapid running, like an
ostrich. The neck was slender and ended in a small, beaked skull with relatively
large eyes. The 'arms' were long and fairly strong; the fore limbs were more
powerful and the claws were more strongly hooked than in Ornithomimus. It
also had the typical characteristics of most ornithomimids: a long, stiff tail and a
toothless beak. Predators of Struthiomimus may have included
Saurornitholestes, Dromaeosaurus, and the tyrannosaurs Daspletosaurus and
Gorgosaurus. The best-preserved skeleton of Struthiomimus is currently on
display at the American Museum of Natural History, in Manhattan, New York.
The best skull is currently on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum of
Palaeontology, in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada (Wikipedia; Khalaf-von Jaffa,
2006).
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 117 – September 2014