| Therizinosaurus Temporal range: Late Cretaceous | |
|---|---|
| |
| Therizinosaurus cheloniformis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Therizinosauridae |
| Genus: | †Therizinosaurus Maleev, 1954 |
| Species: | †T. cheloniformis |
| Type species | |
| †Therizinosaurus cheloniformis Maleev, 1954 | |
Therizinosaurus, meaning 'scythe lizard' from the Greek "therizo" meaning 'to reap' or 'to cut off' and "sauros" meaning 'lizard') was a very large therizinosaurid (previously known as segnosaur). It could grow up to 10 meters (33 feet) long and reach nearly 6 tonnes in weight. Therizinosaurus lived in the late Cretaceous (late Campanian-early Maastrichtian stages, around 70 million years ago), and was one of the last and largest representatives of its unique group, the Therizinosauria ('reaping lizards'). It is known only from a few bones, including gigantic hand claws, from which it gets its name. Also, studies have shown that the Therizinosaurs were actually maniraptorans rather than a strange genus of sauropod like previously thought, due to the hip alignment of the creature.
Anatomy[]
Therizinosaurus size
Therizinosaurus had a small head with a beaked mouth, atop a long neck. It was bipedal and had a large, heavy, deep body, as evidenced by the wide pelvis, 2.5 meter (8 foot) long arms and legs that ended in four toes (three of which supported the animal's weight), which were tipped by short, curved claws. The most distinctive feature of the animal was the presence of three gigantic claws on its front limbs. Each of the three digits of its hand bore these claws, which reached nearly a meter (approximately 3.3 feet) in length. The largest claw was on the first digit. The feeding habits of Therizinosaurus are still debated, but it was most probably an herbivore, using its big claws to push leaves into its mouth. Other hypotheses suggest that it was a termite eater, using its claws to open large termite nests - but it seems highly unlikely that an animal the size of Therizinosaurus could survive on a diet based on insects and features of the skull (including a beaked mouth and flattened teeth) suggest a herbivorous diet. Based off of much research and data collected, it is found that this species had a strange addiction to plants. There are other possible functions that could have been served by the claws of Therizinosaurus, such as defense against predators (e.g. the contemporary Tarbosaurus) and in intraspecific fighting, such as fighting for territory or for mating. Although studies show that therizinosaur claws were bad at piercing and digging, so they may have been used for intimidation, eating and display instead. Despite this, their arms were very powerful.
Therizinosaur claw strength
Based on Beipiaosaurus, Therizinosaurus may have had two layers of feathers, one a shorter, almost downy layer, and the second one a longer, quill like layer. The feathers around the neck had the ability to be puff out, probably as a display structure. It did not have pennaceous feathers.
Therizinosaurus is ancient greek for "Reaping Lizard", referring to the large, curved claws of the forelimb .The only and type species is T. cheloniformis, meaning Turtle Shaped Reaping Lizard, referring to the fact that the claws were originally thought to belong to an extinct giant turtle.
Discovery and Species[]
An outdated historical depiction of a turtle-like Therizinosaurus
The first fossils now attributed to Therizinosaurus were discovered in the late 1940s by a joint Soviet-Mongolian fossil expedition. The expedition unearthed several giant claws that measured up to a meter in length. However, it was not known what creature these belonged to until the early 1950s, when further fossil expeditions unearthed more bones: several more sets of claws and parts of a forelimb and hindlimb. At the time, the remains were thought to have belonged to a giant turtle. In later years, aubsequent finds in northern China allowed paleontologists to assemble the general skeletal structure of the animal, which was determined to be a dinosaur and not a turtle.
The recent discovery of several related dinosaurs - Alxasaurus in 1994 and Beipiaosaurus in 1999 - helped clarify the position of the therizinosaurs as a whole. Various theories had been proposed to explain the ancestry of these dinosaurs, with some scientists even suggesting they were descendents of (info needed) - but these new, well-preserved finds, giving details about the bird-like pelvis, feet and skulls, helped confirm that the therizinosaurs were all maniraptoran theropod dinosaurs.
In popular culture[]
Therizinosaurus as it appears in Jurassic World; Dominion.
- Therizinosaurus appeared in the BBC Walking with Dinosaurs special "Chased By Dinosaurs" where it inaccurately has pronated hands and "probably" lacks feathers.
- Therizinosaurus appeared in Tarbosaurus: The Mightiest Ever as a resident to the forest land and one of the minor antagonists, alongside the Velociraptors. It kills the only surviving offspring of Patch the Tarbosaurus. Patch mauls the Therizinosaurus to death, but is fatally injured himself.
- Therizinosaurus appears in The Dino King a.k.a Speckles The Tarbosaurus as a forest resident being somewhat of a threat to the Tarbosaurus and being killed by One-Eye the T. rex.
- Therizinosaurus appears in the anime Dinosaur King as part of the menagerie of dinosaurs present.
- It appears in the television show, Dino Dan: Trek's Adventures. While it is accurately portrayed with a coat of feathers, it is shown inaccurately to be able to pronate its hands. It is also a tad-bit undersized.
- It appears in the video game The Isle.
- It also appeared in History Channel's Prehistoric Monsters Revealed.
- A family of Therizinosaurus were also seen in Dinosaur Train Episode “Long Claws”.
- Therizinosaurus appears in the PlayStation video game Dino Crisis. In the game, Therizinosaurus is inaccurately portrayed as an active predator rather than a herbivore.
- Therizinosaurus also appears in Jurassic World: The Game. While it is accurately portrayed with a coat of feathers, it is shown inaccurately to be able to pronate its hands.
- Therizinosaurus appears in the PC and console game, ARK: Survival Evolved. In which it appears inaccurately with a large head and short neck.
- Therizinosaurus made an appearance in the Roblox game called "Dinosaur Simulator".
- Therizinosaurus made an appearance in the Roblox game called "Dinosaur World Mobile".
- Therizinosaurus was seen in Jurassic World: Dominion, its most notable moment was its face off against a Giganotosaurus, to which it lost one of its claws. This particular individual is highly territorial. It is one of the most scientifically accurate dinosaurs in the franchise, with notable inaccuracies including a boxy head and misplacement of small fourth toe. This animal is also capable of using echolocation, which is not directly proved by the fossil record. Its DNA was used in the Indominus rex in Jurassic World which was when it first was mentioned.
- Therizinosaurus is included in the Dominion Biosyn Expansion paid DLC for Jurassic World Evolution 2, which released on June 14th, 2022.
- Therizinosaurus made an appearance in episodes 2 and 5 of the first season on Prehistoric Planet, titled “Deserts” & “Forests” respectively.
References[]
- https://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/dinosaur-discovery/therizinosaurus
- https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/therizinosaurus.html
- https://www.dkfindout.com/us/dinosaurs-and-prehistoric-life/dinosaurs/therizinosaurus/
- https://www.britannica.com/animal/therizinosaur
- https://nature.ca/notebooks/english/therizi.htm
- https://dinosaurpictures.org/Therizinosaurus-pictures
- https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1119/1.5055323
Trivia[]
- When the first fossils of the Therizinosaurus were found, they were misidentified as the skeleton of a large turtle.
- The only known specimens of the animal are of the arms and legs.