Avimimus
CLASSIFICATION
MEASUREMENTS
TIME
PLACE
REMAINS
ESSAY
| Some have suggested that the small, toothless(?) Avimimus was feathered. It had little ridges running along its arms that may represent anchor points for feather shafts, although birds generally have bone “pimples” for anchor points instead of straight ridges. This animal is difficult to classify. Its metatarsals were pinched, like those of arctometatarsalians, caenagnathids, and advanced alvarezsaurs. It may belong to any or none of these groups. It had some very bird-like traits, and its head was somewhat similar to oviraptorids. It has even been suggested that it may be a chimera made up of two different animals, but a recent find seems to dispel this idea. Avimimus may be related to Caudipteryx and/or Kakuru. |
IMAGES
| Guide to Troodontidae and Avimimidae: I. Avimimus portentosus II. Kakuru kujani (based on Avimimus portentosus) III. Sinornithoides youngi IV. Borogovia gracilicrus (based on other Troodontidae) V. Byronosaurus jaffei VI. Troodon formosus VII. Tochisaurus nemegtensis (based on other Troodontidae) VIII. Saurornithoides mongoliensis IX. Saurornithoides asiamericanus (based on Saurornithoides mongoliensis) X. Saurornithoides isfarensis (based on Saurornithoides mongoliensis) XI. Saurornithoides junior (based on Saurornithoides mongoliensis) |