Name:
Harpymimus (Greek for "Harpy mimic"); pronounced HAR-pee-MIME-us
Habitat:
Plains of central Asia
Historical Period:
Early Cretaceous (135-125 million years ago)
Size and Weight:
About 13 feet long; weight unknown
Diet:
Probably omnivorous
Distinguishing Characteristics:
Long, narrow skull; teeth on lower jaw
About Harpymimus:
As you might expect in an early ornithomimid ("bird mimic"), Harpymimus displayed some primitive characteristics that set it apart from late Cretaceous relatives like Ornithomimus and Struthiomimus, chief among them a scattering of teeth along its lower jaw. (Oddly enough, the only other toothed ornithomimid, Pelecanimimus, had a whopping 220 teeth--the most of any theropod, let alone ornithomimid, yet discovered.)
Since it's currently believed that Harpymimus was directly ancestral to later ornithomimids, one can only conclude that the subsequent de-evolution of teeth was an adaptation to these dinosaurs' omnivorous diets, which probably consisted mainly of insects and small animals (which don't need to be chewed).
