Quick Therizinosaurus Facts
- Therizinosaurus means “scythe lizard”
- Were about 3 car links long
- Weighed as much as 3 brown bears
- Could run as fast as an elephant
- Its claws were as long as short swords
About Therizinosaurus
Therizinosaurus is a dinosaur which lived during the late Cretaceous Period—about 77 million years ago. It was a dinosaur that was about 33 feet long, 10 feet tall at the hips and weighed around 3 tons. These animals are believed to have had really small heads that sat atop very long necks and is known for having fearsome claws on its front legs. Its two-foot-long claws are some of the biggest claws ever found on any animal.
Therizinosaurus was first discovered in 1948 by a Soviet- Mongolian fossil expedition in Southwest Mongolia. This expedition found several claws which they presumed to have belonged to a turtle-like reptile. This would remain the popular belief until 1970 when Anatoly Konstantinovich Rozhdestvensky came to the conclusion that this species was a dinosaur and not a turtle.
This dinosaur isn’t without some controversy, however. Because the fossils of this dinosaur have been found without the skull, some paleontologist can’t agree whether this dinosaur was an herbivore or a carnivore. It has been asserted that the claws of this creature obviously means that it was a carnivore, but this has been contested by paleontologist who say that since this dinosaur was a member of the therapod family, then it must have been an herbivore. The fact remains that no one really knows what this dinosaur’s diet was like.
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Therizinosaurus Pictures
