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sharp-clawed runner
Pelecanimimus
Say it like this: “pel-e-KAN-i-MIEM-us”
Pelecanimimus polyodon
Pelecanimimus ate plants and walked on two legs. It lived in the Early Cretaceous. Bones have been found in Spain.
- When
- Early Cretaceous (Barremian) · roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago
- Named in
- 1994 · Pérez-Moreno, B. P.; Luis Sanz, J.; Buscalioni, A. D.; Moratalla, J. J.; Ortega, F.; Rasskin-Gutman, D.
- Hip height
- 0.7 m · 2 ft
- Length
- 1.9–2.5 m · 6–8 ft
- Weight
- 17–30 kg · 37–66 lb
- Found in
- Spain · Calizas de La Huérguina
- Food and walking
- Herbivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Ornithomimosauria
The story in short
The genus Pelecanimimus dates to 1994, the year B. P. Pérez-Moreno and colleagues described it. The name means “pelican mimic.”
Fossils referred to Pelecanimimus date to the Early Cretaceous (Barremian), roughly 125.8 to 121.4 million years ago. Finds come from Spain, including the Calizas de La Huérguina Formation. It was a herbivore and walked on two legs.
Published estimates put Pelecanimimus at a length near 1.9–2.5 m, hips about 0.7 m high, and a body mass around 17–30 kg.
On the family tree it sits in Ornithomimosauria, among the theropod dinosaurs.