Segnosaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids SegnosaurusTemporal range: Upper Cretaceous
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Segnosaurus
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Segnosaurus (meaning "slow lizard") was a herbivorous theropod dinosaur that lived during the late Upper Cretaceous, about 93 million years ago. It was a rather large Therizinosaur. This is a family of theropods which were herbivores. They changed from the usual carnivorous lifestyle of their ancestors.
Four partial skeletons of Segnosaurus have been found in Mongolia. It had a long flexible neck, long head, three-toed feet, a broad strong pelvis, stocky legs with clawed fingers and toes, and a short tail. In 2010 Gregory Paul estimated the body length at six metres, the weight at 1.3 tonnes.
Images for kids
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Cretaceous-aged dinosaur fossil localities of Mongolia; Segnosaurus was found by areas C and D (right, Amtgay and Khara-Khutul localities).
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Right half of the holotype mandible in outer and inner view, with component bones marked by different colors; the dentary bone (green) bore the teeth.
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Frontmost dentary teeth, showing folded carinae (lf) and accessory denticles (ad)
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Life restoration
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Reconstructed holotype pelvis in left side view and metatarsus in top view
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Skull and foot bones of Erlikosaurus, which together with Segnosaurus (both from Mongolia) became the basis of the new infraorder Segnosauria; this group is now a junior synonym of Therizinosauria.
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Therizinosaurus, the first known therizinosaur, was originally known only from forelimb bones from Mongolia (cast shown here, in Aathal Dinosaur Museum), which created confusion about its affinities with other theropods.
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Outdated restoration of a prosauropod-like, quadrupedal Erlikosaurus. "Segnosaurs" were often depicted this way until they were definitively identified as theropods.
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Reconstructed skeleton of Alxasaurus from China in Royal Tyrrell Museum, the completeness of which confirmed therizinosaurs as theropods
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Partial forelimb of the basal therizinosaur Beipiaosaurus with impressions of feather-like structures, Paleozoological Museum of China
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Known elements of various therizinosaurs shown to scale, with Segnosaurus in the upper middle
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Reconstructed skeletons of the North American therizinosaurs Nothronychus (large) and Falcarius, in modern, bipedal postures, Natural History Museum of Utah
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Nest attributed to therizinosaurs, Dinosaurland Fossil Museum
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Right half of the holotype mandible shown from the inner side (A), the top (C), and bottom (D), and the left half shown from the inner side (B), compared with the mandibles of other therizinosaurs (to scale in lower right)
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Hindmost dentary teeth showing the third cutting edge (lc), unique to Segnosaurus among theropods
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Dinosaurs from the Bayan Shireh Formation compared in size (Segnosaurus fifth from right, in dark red)
See also
In Spanish: Segnosaurus galbinensis para niños
