Dino card No. 0032 of 2,027

Aepyornithomimus

Say it: EE-pee-OR-nith-oh-MIME-us

Name means: “ostrich mimic from Tögrögiin Shiree”1 2

Ate: PlantsOstrich dinosLate Cretaceous

Aepyornithomimus was a fast, ostrich-like dinosaur that lived in the desert. It had long legs and a toothless beak, and it used its strong feet to run from predators. This dinosaur is one of the rarest finds from the Djadokhta Formation in Mongolia.1 2

Lived

84 to 72 million years ago5

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Tögrögiin Shiree, Ömnögovi Province, Mongolia1 2

Food

Plants3

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Aepyornithomimus is known from only a single left foot and ankle bones, but it is the best preserved ornithomimid specimen from the Djadokhta Formation.1 2

Its name means 'ostrich mimic from Tögrögiin Shiree' because its foot looks like that of a giant ostrich.1 2

This dinosaur lived about 83 to 72 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period.3

Aepyornithomimus had a special foot condition called arctometatarsalian, where the middle foot bones are pinched together for speed.1 2

It was one of the few ornithomimosaurs that lived in a dry, sandy desert environment.1 2

The fossil was found in the Central Sayr area of Tögrögiin Shiree, about 50 kilometres northwest of the famous fossil site Bayn Dzak.1 2

AI-made picture of Aepyornithomimus — An AI-made picture of how Aepyornithomimus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Aepyornithomimus

?How big was Aepyornithomimus?

Scientists have not found enough bones to know its full size, but it was a medium-sized ornithomimid dinosaur, probably about 3 to 4 metres long, based on related dinosaurs like Gallimimus.4 1

?What did Aepyornithomimus eat?

It had a toothless beak like an ostrich, so it probably ate plants, small animals, and maybe eggs. Scientists think it was an omnivore.4

?Could Aepyornithomimus run fast?

Yes, it had long legs and a special foot structure called arctometatarsalian that pinched the middle foot bones together for speed, so it was probably a fast runner.4 1

?Where did Aepyornithomimus live?

It lived in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia about 75 million years ago, in a dry, sandy desert environment called the Djadokhta Formation.4 1

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Aepyornithomimus
Named by: Chinzorig et al. 20175
Group: Ostrich dinos
Family / clade: Ornithomimidae5
Classification: Theropoda > Ornithomimosauria5
Age of the rocks: 84 to 72 million years (Campanian)5
Rock formations: Djadokhta5
Countries: Mongolia5
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: Aepyornithomimus was named in 2017 by Chinzorig and colleagues based on a single left foot and ankle found in the Djadokhta Formation of Mongolia.1 3
Still debated: Scientists are not sure exactly what Aepyornithomimus ate, as it may have been a plant-eater or an omnivore.3

Where the facts come from

First Ornithomimid (Theropoda, Ornithomimosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation of Tögrögiin Shiree, Mongolia | Scientific Reports (nature.com)
First Ornithomimid (Theropoda, Ornithomimosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Djadokhta Formation of Tögrögiin Shiree, Mongolia (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Aepyornithomimus (en.wikipedia.org)
Aepyornithomimus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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