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Therizinosaurus
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artwork copyright Joe Tucciarone
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Therizinosaurus: The word "bizarre" is often used to describe dinosaurs, but few of them were as strange as Therizinosaurus. It had the long neck, small head and tiny, leaf-shaped teeth of a sauropod. However, it wasn't a sauropod; it was a plant-eating theropod! This dinosaur had other strange features, including a broad potbelly and incredibly long finger claws. Most paleontologists believe Therizinosaurus was the reptilian analog of the giant (extinct) ground sloth, and those huge claws were probably used to pull leafy branches close to its mouth.
Genus Name: Therizinosaurus ("scythe lizard")
Type Species: * T. cheloniformis (Maleev, 1954)
Length: 23-33 feet (7-10 meters)
Weight: 2-3 tons
Time: 70 million years ago (Late Cretaceous)
Place: Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Transbaykalia
Diet: plant-eater (herbivore)
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