Therizinosaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids TherizinosaurusTemporal range: Upper Cretaceous
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Fossil
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Therizinosaurus
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T. cheloniformis
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| Therizinosaurus cheloniformis Maleev, 1954
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Therizinosaurus was a very large plant-eating dinosaur. It was a type of theropod dinosaur, which usually means meat-eaters. But Therizinosaurus was special because it ate plants! This amazing dinosaur lived at the end of the Cretaceous period.
Scientists first found its fossils in the late 1940s in Asia. More bones were found later, and the dinosaur was officially named in 1954. At first, scientists thought it might eat both plants and meat. It had incredibly long claws, about 3 feet (1 meter) long!
New discoveries helped us learn more about Therizinosaurus. In 1993, a dinosaur called Alxasaurus was found. Then, in 1996, Beipiaosaurus was discovered. These finds had well-preserved bones, including bird-like pelvises, feet, and skulls. These new fossils helped confirm that Therizinosaurus belonged to a group of theropod dinosaurs called therizinosaurs. We now know they were advanced plant-eating theropods.
What did Therizinosaurus eat?
We don't have a complete skull of Therizinosaurus. This means we can't be absolutely sure what it ate. However, like other therizinosaurs, it most likely ate only plants.
Its very long claws probably had several uses. They could have been for defense against big predators, like the Tarbosaurus dinosaur that lived at the same time. The claws might also have been used for fighting other Therizinosaurus dinosaurs, perhaps for territory or mates. Another idea is that they used their long claws to pull down leafy branches from trees to eat. It's possible the claws were used for all these things!
Images for kids
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Cretaceous fossil localities of Mongolia; Therizinosaurus fossils have been collected from the Altan Uul, Hermiin Tsav, and Nemegt localities at the area A (Nemegt Formation)
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Holotype unguals PIN 551-483 at the Moscow Paleontological Museum; note left ungual cast
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Arms of specimen MPC-D 100/15 with unguals 100/16 and 100/17 at CosmoCaixa Barcelona
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Composite skeletal of the known remains of Therizinosaurus
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Life restoration
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Arms of specimen MPC-D 100/15 with unguals 100/16 and 100/17 at Experimentarium
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Restored hand cast of MPC-D 100/15 at the Aathal Dinosaur Museum
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Skeletal diagram featuring the known unguals of Therizinosaurus
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Outdated quadrupedal, sauropodomorph-like restoration of Erlikosaurus
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Mounted skeleton of Alxasaurus at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. Alxasaurus helped to resolve important aspects about the affinities of the long-enigmatic therizinosaurs
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Feather impressions from the holotype of Beipiaosaurus
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Skeletal reconstructions of various therizinosaurian genera (not to scale); Therizinosaurus in top left
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Lateral view of the unguals in specimens MPC-D 100/15, 100/16 and 100/17. Therizinosaurus may have used its claws for grasping foliage
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The Nemegt Formation had similar environments to those of the swampy Okavango Delta
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Life restoration of a Therizinosaurus pair along with a small group of Tylocephale, and Adasaurus
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See also
In Spanish: Therizinosaurus para niños
