Pelecanimimus

pelican mimic

• Pelecanus · Latin/Greek · pelican
• mimus · Latin/Greek · mimic

The name means "pelican mimic". It was chosen because the throat region of the skull showed evidence of a gular pouch, similar to that of a pelican. The animal was an early ornithomimosaur ("bird mimic" dinosaur) with an unusually large number of small teeth in its jaws.

Named by

Pérez-Moreno et al.

Year named

1994

Period

Early Cretaceous

Stage

Barremian

Found in

La Huérguina Formation, Las Hoyas, Cuenca, Spain

Valid genus; type species P. polyodon ("many teeth"). It is one of the earliest known ornithomimosaurs and preserves skin impressions and possible filamentous structures.