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Therizinosaurus

By Bob Strauss, About.com

Therizinosaurus (Jennifer Campbell)

Name:

Therizinosaurus (Greek for "reaping lizard"); pronounced THER-ih-ZINE-oh-SORE-us

Habitat:

Woodlands of Asia

Historical Period:

Late Cretaceous (80-70 million years ago)

Size and Weight:

About 35 feet long and 3 tons

Diet:

Plants; possibly meat

Distinguishing Characteristics:

Extremely long arms with two-foot-long claws

About Therizinosaurus:

There's nothing like an assortment of weird anatomical details--claws the length of human arms, a beaked skull set atop a long neck, and a bipedal stance--to fire the imagination of dinosaur artists. Therizinosaurus has been depicted sporting everything from Big Bird-like feathers to alien-looking black-and-green stripes, but as is the case with most dinosaurs, we may never know for sure how it really looked.

Why did Therizinosaurus have such long claws? It seems unlikely that they were used for hunting, since weapons that huge and blunt would be ineffective in combat. Today, most paleontologists think this dinosaur used its claws to scale trees and collect fruits and leaves, much like a modern sloth. It's also possible that the claws were a sexual adaptation, that is, a way for males of the species to attract females (or vice-versa).

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