Therizinosaurus

Giant claws

The bones of its claws were about 50 centimeters long. They are thought to be the longest known claws of any land animal. [1][2][3]

In 2014, paleontologist Stephan Lautenschlager, from the University of Bristol, compared the claws of several therizinosaurs on a computer. Those of Therizinosaurus were probably used to hook branches and pull them closer, rather than to dig. [2][3]

Did it also use them to defend itself? The fossils can't tell us. [1]

A dinosaur like no other

It had a long neck, about 2 meters long, and a small head with a beak. It walked on its two back legs. [1][2]

Some of its cousins had feathers that looked like down. Therizinosaurus probably had a few feathers too. [2][3]

Only bones from its arms, its legs and a few ribs have been found. To imagine the rest of its body, scientists look at its better-known cousins. [1]

It lived in an area with big rivers and conifer forests. [2]

Its discovery

In 1948, a Soviet and Mongolian expedition finds three enormous claws in the Gobi Desert, in Mongolia. [2]

In 1954, paleontologist Evgeny Maleev gives it its name. At the time, he thinks these claws belonged to a big reptile that looked like a turtle, and used them to cut seaweed. [1][2]

In 1970, Anatoly Rozhdestvensky is one of the first to say that it is a theropod. In the 1970s and 1980s, bones from its arms are found, then from its legs. [2]

Later, the discovery of its cousins, like Beipiaosaurus, confirmed its place among the theropods. [1]