Episode 270 is all about Struthiomimus, the ostrich of the Cretaceous.

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In this episode, we discuss:

News:

A new alvarezsaurid, Nemegtonykus, was named from Mongolia source

Wulong the “dancing dragon” was named with some fantastic tail feathers source

Washington state may have a new state dinosaur, Suciasaurus rex source

The Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum in Japan will be spending $86 million on renovations source

The Paleontological Society has named Archaeopteryx as it’s “Fossil of the Year” for 2020 source

Tristan Otto the T. rex is moving to Copenhagen at the end of January source

In New Mexico, the Las Cruces Museum of Art has a new dinosaur exhibit source

The National Museum of Scotland has a new exhibition from now until May 4 all about tyrannosaurs source

The Sternberg Museum of Natural History has an exhibit called “Prairie Ocean: Long Time, No Sea” source

For paleo artists, Mark Winton is teaching a new paleo art short course in March source

The TV show Dinosaurs is getting Funko pops, one for each character in the Sinclair family source

The dinosaur of the day: Struthiomimus

Ornithomimid dinosaur that lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now North America

Bipedal, with long legs, and were ostrich like

Estimated to be about 14 ft (4.3 m) long and weigh around 330 lb (150 kg)

Had small, elongated head

Had large eyes

Had stiff tails, probably used for balance

Had three toes on each foot

Probably a fast runner, which would have helped against predators

Estimated to run between 31 to 50 mph (50 to 80 kph)

Had toothless beaks

Had long slender arms and hands

Three fingers on the hands were about the same length, with slightly curved claws, and couldn’t move much between the first finger and second and third fingers

May have been herbivorous or omnivorous

One specimen found with gastroliths

Hand may also have been used as a hook or clamp, to bring branches to its mouth

Had sharp claws on the hands

Type species is Struthiomimus altus

Genus name means “ostrich mimic”

Altus means “lofty” or “noble”

One of the most common ornithomimids in North America

Many found in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada

Lawrence Lambe found fossils in 1901 and named then Ornithomimus altus

Had longer arms and stronger fingers than Ornithomimus, and fingers couldn’t grasp food as well

Barnum Brown found a nearly complete skeleton in 1914 at the Red Deer River site in Alberta

Henry Osborn described Struthiomimus altus in 1917 and compared it to a sloth’s arm (may have helped support wing feathers)

Henry Osborn renamed Ornithomimus altus as a subgenus of Struthiomimus

Dale Russell in 1972 made Struthiomimus a full genus, and referred other specimens to it

Osborn also renamed Ornithomimus tenuis as Struthiomimus tenuis in 1916, but this is considered to be a nomen dubium

William Parks named four more species of Struthiomimus: Struthiomimus brevetertius (1926), Struthiomimus samueli (1928), Struthiomimus currellii (1933), and Struthiomimus ingens (1933)

Today they’re considered to be either Dromiceiomimus or Ornithomimus

Specimens found in the lower Lance Formation are larger, with straighter, longer claws on the hands. One was originally known as Ornithomimus sedens but was reclassified as Struthiomimus sedens

There may be another species of Struthiomimus, found in the Horshoe Canyon Formation and therefore younger than Struthiomimus altus, but it has no name (also has longer, more slender hands)

One of the first theropods thought to be in a horizontal posture (unlike T. rex, with the dragging tail)

Can see Struthiomimus in the game Jurassic World Evolution

Fun Fact: Alvarezsaurids were nearly called Mononykians.

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