Therizinosaurus
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| Therizinosaurus cheloniformis
Conservation status: Fossil | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Therizinosaurus cheloniformis Maleev, 1954 |
Therizinosaurus cheloniformis ("turtle-formed scythe lizard") was a very large segnosaur (now known as Therizinosaurs). It could grow up to twelve metres (40 feet) long. Therizinosaurus lived in the Late Cretaceous period, around 70 million years ago, and its fossils were first discovered in Mongolia. When it was discovered it was originally thought to be a turtle (hence the name cheloniformis - turtle-formed), but it is now accepted as a maniraptoran dinosaur.
Therizinosaurus had a small head, a long neck, short tail and a large body. Its feet had very curved claws, and its most distinctive feature was gigantic claws on its front limbs (up to nearly a metre, or three feet, in length.)
The feeding habits of Therizinosaurus are still debated, but it was most probably an herbivore, using its big manual claws to push leaves into its mouth. Other hypotheses suggest that it was a termite eater, using its claws to open big termite nests, but it seems unlikely that an animal the size of Therizinosaurus could survive on a diet based on insects.
There are other possible uses for Therizinosaurus claws, such as defence against predators (such as the contemporary Tarbosaurus) and for intraspecific fight, such as fighting for territory or for mating.
It is possible that Therizinosaurus was feathered, given that its close relative Beipiaosaurus was.
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