Gallimimus June 15, 2011

Filed under: Theropoda

With a short, light body and long back legs, Gallimimus was a fast-running dinosaur. It took very long strides and could outrun most predators. It looked like a large ostrich with its long neck and toothless beak. Its stiff tail helped it to balance when running.

The ornithomimid featured in the film Jurassic Park was Gallimimus. It was a fairly good representation, except that it is now thought that these animals were covered in feathers, which would make sense if they were to be as active as they were portrayed in the film. There are skeletons of juveniles that have allowed scientists to study the growth pattern of ornithomimids in general.

Factbox//Name: Gallimimus, meaning ‘chicken mimic’ Size: 6m long and 3m high Food: plants, eggs, insects and lizards  Lived: about 70 million years ago in the Cretaceous Period in Mongolia

Gallimimusis the largest known type of ornithomimid, but it has shorter arms in proportion to the other species. The hands, too, are quite small and the fingers are not very flexible. The head is quite long and graceful and, as in nearly all ornithomimids, the jaws have no teeth. The beak of the lower jaw is shovel-shaped, and the big eyes are situated on the sides of the head, so it did not have binocular vision.Like the other ostrich mimics and modern birds, Gallimimus had hollow bones. This device allowed for a reduction of weight in the body, without reducing the strength, and enabled the animal to move quickly. The main difference between the two known Gallimimus species is the shape of the fingers. G. mongoliensishad shorter hands and would not have grasped as well.Gallimimus had short arms with three claws on its hands. The claws were sharp, but Gallimimuscould not grasp things very well and did not eat meat because it could not tear it up.Gallimimus’claws came in very useful, however, because it used them to scrape away at the soil to dig up eggs for food. It ate mostly plants, but it also fed on small insects, which it grabbed in its beak, and even chased lizards.


Ornithischia Thyreophora Ankylosauria Ankylosauridae?
Subfamily: Polacanthinae?
Genus: Gargoyleosaurus
Species: G. parkpinorum

Fossil range: Late Jurassic

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Gargoyleosaurus (meaning “gargoyle lizard”) is one of the earliest ankylosaurs known from reasonably complete fossil remains. Its skull measures 29 centimetres (11 in) in length, and its total body length is an estimated 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13 ft). It may have weighed as much as 1 tonne (2,200 lb). The holotype was discovered at the Bone Cabin Quarry West locality, in Albany County, Wyoming in exposures of the Upper Jurassic (Kimmeridgian to Tithonian stages) Morrison Formation.


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This great photo of the holotype of Gargoyleosaurus parkpini, DMNH 27726, was taken by Jim Puckett in the Dinosaur Hall of “Prehistoric Journey” at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

dmnhanka.jpg (13974 bytes)  Reconstructed skeleton of the Jurassic ankylosaur (Gargoyleosaurus parkpini) in the Denver Museum of Science and Nature. Note scutes dermal covering the head and upper body.)

  • GarudimimusGarudimimus is een geslacht van theropode dinosauriërs, behorend tot de groep van de Maniraptoriformes, dat tijdens het late Krijt leefde in het gebied van het huidige Mongolië. De enige benoemde soort is Garudimimus brevipes


Garudimimus brevipes Barsbold, 1981
Garudimimidé du Cenomanien/Santonien (99.6-83.5 MA) de Mongolie (Ömnögov’); identifié par un squelette partiel (crâne, os des bras, vertèbres, pubis …).

Garudimimus, meaning “Garuda mimic”, is a genus of ornithomimosaur dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Period. It was found in sedimentary deposits in Bayshin Tsav, Mongolia.

Garudimimus was about 13 feet in length and was possibly an omnivore. It is believed that this dinosaur was not built for speed, unlike most ornithomimosaurs. It had short legs and heavy feet. The muscles of the legs were not as developed as in more derived ornithomimosaurs. Each foot had four toes, also unlike the typical three-toed relatives. The skull was rounded and the eyes would have been large. It was previously thought that this dinosaur had a horn at the top of the skull, however, recent studies show that the horn was a misplaced skull bone.

  • Gasparinisaura   Gasparinisaura is een geslacht van plantenetende dinosauriërs, behorend tot de groep van de Euornithopoda, dat tijdens het late Krijt leefde in het gebied van het huidige Zuid-Amerika. De enige benoemde soort is Gasparinisaura cincosaltensis.
  Gasparinisaura 2.jpg
  • Gastonia Gastonia  Gastonia is een uitgestorven geslacht van plantenetende ornithischische dinosauriërs dat tijdens het Vroeg-Krijt leefde in het gebied van het huidige Noord-Amerika.
This drawing shows the possible appearance of Gastonia, a dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period (around 125 million years ago). Gastonia featured a sacral shield and large spikes on its shoulders. It was named by James Kirkland in 1998 after remains were found in Utah, USA.
A few skulls and skeletons from nearly complete to partial.
ANATOMICAL CHARACTERISTICS Head very small, heavily armored, no teeth on front of upper jaw. Arm and leg very short. Belly extremely broad. Large sidewaysprojecting shoulder spines, no lateral spines at hip, modest spines on side of tail.
AGE Early Cretaceous, Barremian.
HABITAT Short wet season, otherwise semiarid with floodplain prairies, open woodlands, and riverine forests




  • Gigantosaurus carolinii, bigger than the Mapusaurus , it was even larger than the Tyranosaurus Rex, with a skull 1.8m long.
  • Gigantoraptor

Gigantoraptor Erlianensis

Gigantoraptor Erlianensis

Journalists examine the replica of a fossilized skull, a small scale model and actual fossilized leg bones from the Gigantoraptor erlianensis, whose fossilized bones were uncovered recently in northern China at an unveiling held in Beijing, China, Wednesday, June 13, 2007. The remains of a giant, birdlike dinosaur at least 35 times the weight of similar species have been found in China, a surprising discovery that indicates a more complicated evolutionary process for birds than originally thought, scientists said Wednesday.(AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
  • Gigantspinosaurus  Gigantspinosaurus is een geslacht van plantenetende ornithischische dinosauriërs, behorend tot de groep van de Stegosauria, dat tijdens het Opper-Jura leefde in het gebied van het huidige China




the Tendaguru giant.
Berlin: MFN Dinosaur Hall,
Giraffatitan brancai was a sauropod, one of a group of four-legged, plant-eating dinosaurs with long necks and tails, and tiny brains.Originally considered to be a species of Brachiosaurus, Giraffatitan appears to deserve its own genus, as no derived characters have been found to link it to Brachiosaurus proper. The skull has an unusually tall rounded crest containing the nostrils, which is why it was selected for this poster. This species is unusual in possessing “withers” over the shoulders.
It and the other Brachiosaurids are members of the Brachiosauridae family of dinosaurs.They differ from other sauropods, as all had a long giraffe-like build, with long forelimbs and a raised neck, which it probably used to graze in the tops of trees. It has been suggested that all were basal titanosauriforms thrown together without respect for true characteristics, such as long necks and long arms.
For many decades, Brachiosaurus was the largest known dinosaur. It has since been exceeded in sheer mass by a number of giant titanosaurids like the Argentinosaurus and it was finally surpassed in height by another brachiosaurid, the Sauroposeidon. It was, however, still the largest dinosaur known from a relatively complete skeleton and the largest on display anywhere in the world.
The first Brachiosaurus was discovered in 1900 by Elmer S. Riggs, in the Grand River Canyon of western Colorado, in the United States. He named the new species and genera in 1903 after its long front limbs. Brachiosaurus means “arm lizard”, from the Greek brachion (“arm”) and sauros (“lizard”). This first discovered species has named Brachiosaurus altithorax and it was made famous by the movie “Jurassic Park”. It is very tall (40 feet!) and very heavy – more than 12 elephants! Unlike most of the other long-necked dinosaurs,
Starting in 1909, German paleontologist Werner Janensch found many new specimens in Tanzania, Africa, including some nearly complete skeletons. These were the Brachiosaurus brancai, which is shown on the poster. Its fossilized remains are on display at the Humboldt Museum in Berlin, Germany. The remains are primarily from one gigantic animal, except for a few tail bones (caudal vertebrae) which belong to another animal of the same size and species While the Diplodocus carnegiei mounted at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, United States actually exceeds it in length, the Berlin animal is taller, and far more massive. Almost a century after its discovery, it still remains the largest mounted dinosaur in the world. It has also been one of the luckiest, because it escape destruction when most of Berlin was reduced to rubble by allied bombardment during World War II.There are three known species of Brachiosaurus;
B. alataiensis (de Lapparent & Zbyszewski, 1957): Is known from back bones (vertebrae), and parts of the hip and limbs, which were recovered in Estremadura, Portugal. It lived about 150 million years ago, during the Kimmeridgian age of the late Jurassic period.
B. altithorax (Riggs, 1903). The type species is known from two partial skeletons recovered in Colorado and Utah in the United States. It lived from 145 to 150 million years ago, during the Kimmeridgian to Tithonian ages.
?B. nougaredi (de Lapparent, 1960): While it may not be a distinct species (nomen dubium?) it is known from set of fused bones over the hip (sacrum), and parts of a forelimb, which were recovered in Wargla, Algeria in Africa. It lived 100 to 110 million years ago, during the Albian to Cenomanian ages of the middle Cretaceous period.There at least two other valid members of the family. :
Giraffatitan brancai (Janensch, 1914 (formerly B. brancai): The new type species, it is known from five partial skeletons, including at least three skulls, and some limb bones, which were recovered in Mtwara, Tanzania, in Africa. It lived from 145 to 150 million years ago, during the Kimmeridgian to Tithonian ages of the late Jurassic period.
Cedarosaurus weiskopfae (Tidwell, Carpenter, and Brooks, 1999). A new brachiosaurid from the Yellow Cat member of the Cedar Mountain Formation in Utah. This sauropod is known from a partial skeleton including vertebrae, partial girdles, and most of the limbs. Remains referred to Pleurocoelus may belong here. It was a smallish sauropod.http://www.dinosaur-world.com/weird_dinosaurs/giraffatitan%20_brancai.htm
Members of an antarctic 1990–91 expedition collected partial remains of a Jurassic creature called Glacialisaurus, meaning “frozen lizard.”The entire dinosaur must have been 20–25 feet (6–8 m) long and weighed an estimated 4–6 tons.
This is (tentatively) identified as a plant-eating, longnecked dinosaur, or sauropodomorph.
Again, this was a big eater.
Illustration by Mike Belknap

Skeleton of Giraffatitan.


Gondwanatitan is a Primitive Titanosaur from late Cretaceous Brazil.  It was similar to Aeolosaurus.

esqueleto de gondwanatitan



  • Gongbusaurus Gongbusaurus is een geslacht van plantenetende ornithischische dinosauriërs dat tijdens het late Jura leefde in het gebied van het huidige China


“Gongbusaurus” wucaiwanensis

Gongbusaurus (meaning “Yu Gong’s (of the Zigong Dinosaur Museum) lizard”) is a genus of ornithischian (an ornithopod?) dinosaur that lived between about 160 and 155 million years ago, in the Late Jurassic period. A small herbivore, it is very poorly known. Two species have been assigned to it, but as the original name is based on teeth, there is no concrete evidence to connect the two species. Its fossils have been found in China.

 Afbeeldingen van Gongxianosaurus

Skeletal reconstruction of Gongxianosaurus shibeiensis. From He et al., 1998.


Gorgosaurus libratus
Gorgosaurus, meaning “fierce lizard” (from the Greek: gorgos/ meaning ‘terrible’ or ‘fierce’ and saurus/ meaning ‘lizard’) is a genus of carnivorous dinosaur that reached 7 to 8 metres (27 to 30 feet) in length, with an estimated weight of 2.5 tonnes (2.75 short tons). It was first described by paleontologist Lawrence Morris Lambe, in 1914 and has been found in western Canada and the United States. It lived about 70 million years ago in the late Cretaceous Period.
Over 20 Gorgosaurus skeletons have been recovered, making it the most well-represented tyrannosaurid in the fossil record. Generally similar to Tyrannosaurus and most other large tyrannosaurids (such as Daspletosaurus and Albertosaurus), Gorgosaurus can be described as having a massive head, large curved teeth, tiny two-fingered front limbs, and powerful legs. Compared to the other tyrannosaurids, Gorgosaurus is most similar to its very close relative Albertosaurus. Although it has been suggested that Gorgosaurus was a scavenger, its co-existence with the similarly sized but more robust tyrannosaurid, Daspletosaurus, casts doubt on this theory. Another hypothesis proposes that Gorgosaurus, which was rather lean for a tyrannosaurid, actively hunted fleet-footed animals such as duckbills and ornithomimids (‘ostrich-mimic’ dinosaurs). According to this proposition, the more troublesome ceratopsians and ankylosaurians (horned and heavily armoured dinosaurs) would have been left to Daspletosaurus.For years, the species Gorgosaurus libratus (the only species of Gorgosaurus currently recognized) was assigned to the Albertosaurus genus. However, recent work done by paleontologists suggest that enough differences exist between G. libratus and the other Albertosaurus species, to justify the original genus name of Gorgosaurus.Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Theropoda
Family: Tyrannosauridae
Subfamily: Albertosaurinae
Genus: Gorgosaurus
Species: G. libratus

Image © The Natural History Museum, London 2007

Goyocephale was a genus of dinosaur which lived during the Late Cretaceous period. It lived in what is now Mongolia. Goyocephale was a pachycephalosaur, which were ornithischians with thick, bony skulls.Goyocephale probably weighed 10-40 kg. The type species, Goyocephale lattimorei, was formally described by Perle, Maryanska, and Osmolska in 1982. It is based on a fairly complete skeleton.

Order: Ornithischia
Suborder: Marginocephalia
Infraorder: Pachycephalosauria
Family: Pachycephalosauridae
Genus: Goyocephale
Perle, Maryanska, and Osmolska (1982)
Goyocephale lattimorei


Gryponyx africanus

Gryponyx taylori

Gryponyx transvaalensis


Gryposaurus monumentensis

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Gryposaurus monumentensis

Gryposaurus notabilis
Gryposaurus was a common duck-billed dinosaur known from a over 10 skulls, some bones, and one of the very few skin casts ever found. The skin cast reveals the skin on its neck, sides and belly were covered with smooth scales less than a quarter of an inch in size. It had a long, narrow skull, highly-arched nostrils, and a big bump on its snout. It was a large plant-eater that would have traveled in herds while trying to avoid being eaten by some of the earliest tyrannosaur family members. Discovered in Alberta, Canada by L. Lambe in 1914, the type species is G. notabilis.
Gryposaurus is much better known under the name Kritosaurus notabilis. For a long time Kritosaurus and Gryposaurus were considered to be the same genus, but in the last twenty years it has become clear that the type material of Kritosaurus is not particularly diagnostic, based on a fragmentary skull.

Gryposaurus, meanwhile, is based on much better remains. Interestingly, it now appears that Kritosaurus may actually be a “saurolophinid”, instead of a “gryposaurinid”, illustrating the problems of establishing hadrosaurid taxa on material that is either missing or has an inadequately preserved skull.

hadrosaurid, hadrosaur, duck-billed dinosaur=  was a plant-eater that was about 30 feet (9 m) long.

  • Guaibasaurus    Guaibasaurus is een geslacht van saurischische dinosauriërs dat tijdens het late Trias leefde in het gebied van het huidige Brazilië. De typesoort is Guaibasaurus candelariensis.


Skeleton of Guaibasaurus candalariensis

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Guaibasaurus (“Rio Guaiba lizard”) was an  early dinosaur from the Late Triassic, about 220 million years ago. It was found in 1998 by José Bonaparte and Jorge Ferigolo near Candalaria, Río Grande do Sul Province, Brazil. The remains consist of two incomplete skeletons. Guaibasaurus is an even more primitive saurischian than either the Argentinean Herrerasaurus or the Brazilian Staurikosaurus, and may belong to the group that was ancestral to both sauropods and theropods.






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