Struthiomimus sedens

Oxford Natural History Museum.

Cast of a skeleton from the 65 million year old Upper Cretaceous Lance Formation of Wyoming, USA.

 

The name Struthiomimus means "ostrich-mimic", because evolutionary convergence has produced an animal that shares many adaptive features in common with the ostrich and other large flightless birds.

 

Like the ostrich, these animals could run very fast indeed,

up to 50 kilometres per hour, according to some calculations.

 

Unlike the ostrich, Struthiomimus had long arms and hands with three fingers that ended in sharp claws, the morphology of the joints suggesting that the hands were held with the plam inwards.

 

The skull of Struthiomimus lacks teeth, but the jaws may have borne a sharp beak

like that of a modern tortoise or turtle. The bones of the skull are jointed, and the

two jaws moved independently, allowing the animal to manipulate food in the mouth.

 

There is still no agreement as to what Struthiomimus ate. The lack of teeth and

presence of gastroliths suggests a plant diet., whilst the hands with sharp claws

suggest either the possibility of catching, holding and shredding prey, or perhaps

the stripping of tender shoots and fruit from bushes and low trees.

 

 

Done