page_title: Timeline of ornithomimosaur research
section_title: 1980s
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of ornithomimosaur research / 20th century / 1980s
caption_attribution_description: Harpymimus restoration, • Based proportionally on a skeletal reconstruction by Jamie Headden. • Three specimens of Ornithomimus preserve evidence of feathers, including evidence of pennaceous feathers on the arms. &#91;1&#93; This image goes under the assumption that Harpymimus were also covered in feathers. • This image is not meant to imply egg snatching behaviour. • The colours and/or patterns, as with nearly all reconstructions of prehistoric creatures, are speculative. Note: I often update my images; If you want to post this image on other websites, if possible, please link to the original file here. This will allow others to see the most recent version. Thanks. References ↑ &#32;(2012).&#32;"Feathered Non-Avian Dinosaurs from North America Provide Insight into Wing Origins". Science&#32;338&#32;(6106): 510. DOI:10.1126/science.1225376.
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: 1981
  Barsbold described the new genus and species Garudimimus brevipes. He added the family Garudimimidae to the ornithomimosaurs.
  Nicholls and Russell concluded that Dromiceiomimus was the same as Ornithomimus after all.
  Nicholls and Russell that ornithomimosaurs had little ability to rotate their forearms. This is evidence against the idea that ornithomimosaurs could use their arms to rake or dig. They also thought the first and second digits were somewhat opposable. The researchers concluded that ornithomimosaurs could use their arms to "gras[p] branches and fern fronds."
  1982
  A paper by Galton and others accepted Russell's opinion that the Late Jurassic theropod Elaphrosaurus bambergi of Tanzania was a primitive ornithomimosaur. This species would later be shown to be a coelophysoid.
  1984
  Barsbold and Perle described the new genus and species Harpymimus okladnikovi. Barsbold and Perle added the family Harpymimidae to the ornithomimosauria.
  1985
  Nicholls and Russel noted similarities in the beaks of ornithomimosaurs and modern ratite birds and suggested that ornithomimosaurs may have shared the birds' herbivorous diet.
  Nicholls and Russell enumerated a list of anatomical traits shared by Deinocheirus and ornithomimosaurs.
  DeCourten and Russell reported a second specimen of Ornithomimus velox to the scientific literature, this one from the Kaiparowits Formation in Utah.
  1988
  Barsbold described the new genus and species Anserimimus planinychus.
  Paul tentatively regarded Deinocheirus as an ornithomimosaur.
caption: Artistic restoration of Harpymimus okladnikovi
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "7016", "Image ImageLength": "3000", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image Compression": "Uncompressed", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image PlanarConfiguration": "1", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2013:01:04 11:02:18", "Image ExifOffset": "252", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "390", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "2627", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1024", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "438"}