Book Fauna Palaestina 4 Year 2014 By Prof Dr Norman Ali Bassam Khalaf von Jaffa ISBN 978-9950-383-77-7

dozen medium rows, and 4-5 short rows which run east-west
(Avnimelech and Bervoets; Khalaf-von Jaffa, 2006).
Ornithomimosaurs:
Ornithomimosaurs ("Bird mimic lizards") or members of the clade
Ornithomimosauria are theropod dinosaurs, like Gallimimus,
which bore a superficial resemblance to modern ostriches. They
were fast, fleet-footed, omnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs
from the Upper Cretaceous of Laurasia (Asia, Europe and North
America). The skull, sitting atop a long neck, was relatively small
with large eyes. Some primitive species had teeth, but most had
toothless beaks. The arms were long and slender and bore
powerful claws. The limbs were long and powerful, with a long
foot and short, strong toes terminating in hooflike claws.
Ornithomimosaurs were probably among the fastest of all
dinosaurs. Like many other coelurosaurs, the ornithomimid hide
was probably feathered rather than scaly (Wikipedia; Khalaf-von
Jaffa, 2006).
The group first appears in the Lower Cretaceous and persisted
until the Upper Cretaceous. They appear to be related to less
derived coelurosaurian theropods such as Compsognathus and
tyrannosaurids. Primitive members of the group include
Pelecanimimus, Shenzhousaurus, Harpymimus, and probably the
huge Deinocheirus, the arms of which reached eight feet in length.
More advanced species, members of the family ornithomimidae,
include Gallimimus, Archaeornithomimus, Anserimimus,
Struthiomimus, and Ornithomimus (Wikipedia; Khalaf-von Jaffa,
2006).
Ornithomimosaurs probably got most of their calories from plants
but may have eaten small vertebrates and insects as well. Henry
Fairfield Osborn suggested that the long, sloth-like arms may
have been used to pull down branches for ornithomimosaurs to
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