page_title: Timeline of ornithomimosaur research
section_title: 1990s
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of ornithomimosaur research / 20th century / 1990s
caption_attribution_description: English: Size comparison between Pelecanimimus (Sauropsida, Dinosauria, Saurichia, Theropoda, Tetanurae, Coelurosauria, Ornithomimosauria) and a human.
context_page_description: This timeline of ornithomimosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on the ornithomimosaurs, a group of bird-like theropods popularly known as the ostrich dinosaurs. Although fragmentary, probable, ornithomimosaur fossils had been described as far back as the 1860s, the first ornithomimosaur to be recognized as belonging to a new family distinct from other theropods was Ornithomimus velox, described by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1890. Thus the ornithomimid ornithomimosaurs were one of the first major Mesozoic theropod groups to be recognized in the fossil record. The description of a second ornithomimosaur genus did not happen until nearly 30 years later, when Henry Fairfield Osborn described Struthiomimus in 1917. Later in the 20th century, significant ornithomimosaur discoveries began occurring in Asia. The first was a bonebed of "Ornithomimus" asiaticus found at Iren Debasu. More Asian discoveries took place even later in the 20th century, including the disembodied arms of Deinocheirus mirificus and the new genus Gallimimus bullatus. The formal naming of the Ornithomimosauria itself was performed by Rinchen Barsbold in 1976.
context_section_description: 1990
  Barsbold and Osmolska performed the first phylogenetic analysis of the internal evolutionary relationships of ornithomimosaurs. They also noted that unlike modern ratite birds, the tip of an ornithomimosaur's beak has a "deep edge". Barsbold and Osmolska further observed that ornithomimosaur remains were more common in wetter environments like Iren Debasu and Dinosaur Park Formation than more arid regions.
  Smith and Galton proposed a redefinition of the ornithomimidae that would include all taxa then regarded as ornithomimosaurian. Most scientists did not follow this suggestion, however.
  Thulborn noted that estimates for ornithomimosaur running speeds puts them between 35 and 60 km/h.
  1991
  Yacobucci performed a cladistic analysis of ornithomimosaurs.
  1993
  Currie and Eberth suggested that some fossils once thought to belong to Archaeornithomimus were actually Garudimimus remains. They also noted that some fossil eggs discovered at Iren Debasu in China may have been laid by ornithomimosaurs. However, without ornithomimosaur skeletal remains of either adults who could have laid the eggs or embryos inside them there is no solid evidence for this proposal.
  Sankar Chatterjee described the new genus and species Shuvosaurus inexpectatus. He interpreted the unusual reptile as the world's oldest and most primitive ornithomimosaur.
  1994
  Perez-Moreno and other researchers described the new genus and species Pelecanimimus polyodon. The species was the first known ornithomimosaur from Europe. The researchers performed a cladistic analysis to uncover its evolutionary relationship with Garudimimus and Gallimimus, finding it to be more primitive than either one. IT was so primitive that it retained teeth. The tip of its jaws were filled 220 tiny teeth. The researchers interpreted these teeth as acting like a "cutting and ripping blade". They also debunked the idea that Garudimimus brevipes had a horn on its nose.
  Rich and Vickers-Rich described the new genus and species Timimus hermani.
  1995
  Nessov described the new species Archaeornithomimus bissektensis.
  1997
  Rauhut rejected Sankar Chatterjee's claim that Shuvosaurus inexpectatus of Late Triassic Texas was the world's oldest and most primitive ornithomimosaur because the anatomy of its braincase and palate were inconsistent with that of an ornithomimosaur.
  Osmolska published on ornithomimosaur evolutionary relationships.
  1998
  Sereno proposed a radical redefinition of the Ornithomimosauria as a stem based clade including all dinosaurs more closely related to Ornithomimus than to Shuuvuia. This definition would have vastly expanded the membership of Ornithomimosauria to not only include the ostrich dinosaurs but the alvarezsaurs and therizinosaurs as well.
  Taquet and Russell noted commonalities in the teeth of Pelecanimimus polyodon with those of spinosaurids and proposed that it may actually be a member of that group rather than an ornithomimosaur. This reclassification met with little support.
  1999
  Padian and other researchers published a paper noting that Paul Sereno's revised definition of the Ornithomimosauria was basically the same as that of a clade proposed in 1996 by Thom Holtz called the Arctometatarsalia. Padian and the others proposed a new redefinition of Ornithomimosauria as the node based clade including those dinosaur descended from the most recent common ancestor shared by Pelecanimimus and Ornithomimus. This definition preserved the classification of the traditional ostrich dinosaurs as members.
  Paul Sereno performed a cladistic analysis which concluded that Elaphrosaurus bambergi of Late Jurassic Tanzania was actually a coelophysoid rather than a primitive ornithomimosaur as interpreted by Russell. He also drew some conclusions regarding ornithomimosaur biogeography, noting that they apparently crossed the Bering land bridge less readily than hadrosaurs and pachycephalosaurs during the Cretaceous.
  Kobayashi and others reported the discovery of gastroliths in the dinosaur that would later be named Sinornithomimus. The presence, abundance, and size of the gastrolith
caption: Estimated size of Pelecanimimus, compared to a human
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