Mystery as fossil of ostrich-like dinosaur found off coast of Canada
An illustration of an Ornithomimus (Julius Csotonyi via University of Alberta)
An 80-million-year-old dinosaur tail fossil discovered on Denman Island, British Columbia, provides the clearest evidence of ostrich-like dinosaurs on North America’s Pacific coastline.
The fossil, an isolated caudal vertebra, was identified as belonging to an indeterminate ornithomimosaur, a fast-running, bird-like theropod dinosaur from the Cretaceous period.
Researchers utilised CT scans to create a 3D model of the fossil, comparing it to complete ornithomimosaur and tyrannosaur skeletons to confirm its classification.
Ornithomimosaurs, which lived between 145 and 66 million years ago, resembled modern-day ostriches with their small heads, slender bodies, toothless beaks, and long legs and necks.
The precise manner in which the bone came to be deposited on the Canadian island remains unknown, with theories including a floating carcass, wave action, or transport by a scavenging dinosaur.
