Dinosaurs · Small theropod

Pelecanimimus

Say it pel-e-kan-i-mim-us. The name means ‘pelican mimic’.

Pelecanimimus beside a person 1.75 m tall. Ticks mark every metre.Body shape drawn for this site, showing the general build of small theropods

Length: 2.5 m
Diet: Meat-eater
When: Early Cretaceous127 to 121 million years ago
Fossils found in: Spain
Named by: Pérez-Moreno and colleagues (1994)
Family tree: Dinosauria › Saurischia › Theropoda › Ornithomimosauria

Where Pelecanimimus sits in the age of dinosaurs.Periods from the ICS chart; dinosaur dates from the Natural History Museum

Small theropods. Small two-legged dinosaurs, many feathered, the group that includes birds. See all 60

Lived at the same time

Other small theropods

Beipiaosaurus Early Cretaceous
Confuciusornis Early Cretaceous
Sinovenator Early Cretaceous
Shanag Early Cretaceous
Caudipteryx Early Cretaceous
Sinocalliopteryx Early Cretaceous
Sinosauropteryx Early Cretaceous
Protarchaeopteryx Early Cretaceous

Source: Pelecanimimus in the Natural History Museum Dino Directory, read 12 November 2026. Sizes are the museum's estimates for a typical adult. "Lived at the same time" lists dinosaurs whose dates overlap, which does not always mean they met.