20 Therizinosaurus Questions and Answers.
Therizinosaurus was certainly a scary looking dinosaur. Long spiked claws, huge size, a beak that looks like it could rip flesh. Except that it didn’t. In fact Therizinosaurus was a planet eater, a veggiesaurus a herbivore! So those Jurassic World Dominion are perhaps making it more scary than it should be!, Though a elephant also doesn’t eat meat and i would want one of those angry at me either
Therizinosaurus was a 30ft long dinosaur of the theropod family. It is distinguished by its three 1-metre-long claws on its upper limbs. Although theropods, include carnivores like T-Rex and Velociraptor, Therizinosaurus was in fact a herbivore. The long claws were likely used for foraging and defence not hunting.
Even since its appearance in the Jurassic Dominion Movie there has been a steady stream of questions asked about this Freddie Kruger (ask your dad) or Wolverine looking dinosaur.
We have 20 questions ( actually about 23!) and Answers below to help you learn more about this huge clawed vegetarian cousin of the T-Rex!
We have LOADS of other pages on the site that cover the facts of some of the most popular dinosaurs and answer your questions, you can check these out on the links at the top of the page. But first here are our questions and answers on the Therizinosaurus .
20 Questions and Answers about Therizinosaurus.
We actually have about 23 questions and answers for you here, and if you want printable facts sheets to collect you can head over to our Therizinosaurus facts page here or from there link on this page.
What does Therizinosaurus name mean?
Therizinosaurus means ‘reaping lizard,’ or scythe lizard and was named after those huge 1 metre claws it has on each upper limb. At first it was thought to be some kind of turtle and that those claws were sued to read or cut through sea weed to eat. although the first fossils were found in 1948 it wasnt catalogued until 1954 by Evgeny Maleev a russian Paleontologist
When was Therizinosaurus first discovered?
The first Therizinosaurus fossils were discovered in the late 1940s by a joint American-Soviet expedition in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Then classified in 1954 and then reclassified or identified at a theropod in the 1970s.
How Big was Therizinosaurus ?
As with some other theopods, Therizinosaurus is one of the largest dinosaurs that ever lived, It could be:
- Up to 30 feet long
- weighing more than 7,000 pounds!
- Have 3ft long claws on its hands
- be 18-20ft tall when standing upright.
Did Therizinosaurus have Feathers?
Therizinosaurus had feathers, Fossils of family members have been discovered with imprints of feathers with visible. These would have been used for insulation and displays. It was certainly too big to fly without large wings, feathers and muscles.
What did Therizinosaurus eat?
Currently Therizinosaurus is thought to have eaten leaves, bushes and shrubs and to have been a herbivore. Although its family line may have some of the most iconic predators liek t-Rex Giganotosaurus and velociraptor, Therizinosaurus did follow them into the family business! Despite those 3ft long claws looking like they may be quite useful in a hunt!
As of yet a full skull has not yet been found, so it may all surprise us if we find it was actually full of teeth, but signs at the moment suggest this was not the case!
How long were Therizinosaurus claws?
The most noticeable and famous feature of the Therizinosaurus were the 3, meter long claws in had on each upper limb. These could be from 2ft to over 3ft long and were fairly straight and sharp.
Scary as these look, and that is very scary, they were used to pull down branches and bushes to eat, not to spear unsuspecting dinosaurs….. we think.
Is Therizinosaurus is Jurassic World Dominion?
Yes, Therizinosaurus is shown in its like habitat of think jungle following ( or stalking) Clare Deering from the Jurassic World movies into a swamp. We get a clear look at its feathered body long claws and beaked mouth.
Has a full Skeleton of Therizinosaurus been found?
Therizinosaurus is a rare dinosaur and only bones from the arms, claws and legs have been found so far. A lot of what we know and have researched is from other dinosaurs in the same family. These have been used to create what we think the Therizinosaurus would look like today. Until a full fossil skeleton is found it is the best that can be done.
Did Therizinosaurus walk on two legs?
the Therizinosaurus is classed, now, as a theropod and would have moved around in its hind legs. However it had long upper limbs as well, not just because of those claws. So this has opened up debate on whether it did have a preference for two legs or was equally as comfortably on 4. The length of those claws however suggests they were not evolved for use in walking.
Is the sloth related to the Therizinosaurus?
There are certainly similarities between the two animals, especially the giant sloth that lived a thousands of years ago. However despite the similarities, diet, speed ( possibly) claws.
There is much more that separates them than is similar. not least the following two reasons, they lived 65 million years apart! and one was a mammal and one was a dinosaur! So no the Therizinosaurus and sloths are not related to each other.
Did Therizinosaurus lay Eggs?
There have been finds, as recently as 2013 of family members of the Therizinosaurus at least eggs and nests. Some with full embryos still inside.
Did Therizinosaurus have teeth?
A full skull has not yet been found, how from similar dinosaurs of the same family scientists are pretty sure that the Therizinosaurus had a beak, but also had teeth, however these would be towards th eback of its mouth.
What color was Therizinosaurus ?
We are unsure of what color the Therizinosaurus’ feathers were but it would be more likely to be darker to blend into its surroundings. There seems to be more discussions around a brown / dark red color than any other but we really don’t know.
When did the Therizinosaurus live?
THis dinosaur was one of the most recent dinosaurs, and Therizinosaurus lived about 70 million years ago which means it was alive at the same time as Tyrannosaurus Rex, velociraptor and Triceratops.
How long were the Therizinosaurus arms?
The arms of the Therizinosaurus could be up to 8 feet long! (2.4 metres) thats longer than a very, VERY tall person and dont forget about those crazy long claws as well!
Did the therizinosaurus walk on three or four toes?
Although most theropods walked on three toes, The Therizinosaurus used 4 toes to walk on, It wasn;t the only difference between it and its more aggressive cousins, it was also a herbivore rather than a carnivore.
What Dinsaours coudl eat the Therizinosaurus
The Therizinosaurus was a large dinosaur measuring up to 30ft long. It made it safe from most predators at the time, but there were still carnivores that could make a meal of it. The Tarbosaurus was one of these and was similar to a T-Rex.
Where have Therizinosaurus fossils been found?
As there are so few Therizinosaurus fossils found at the moment we are not sure if this is the only location or if there are more but we are yet to discover them. So far fossils have been found in what is now Mongolia.
When did the Therizinosaurus go extinct?
THe Therizinosaurus went extinct at the same time as most other dinosaur species around 66 million years ago in the after effects of the Chicxulub Asteroid impact.
Are the Claws of the Therizinosaurus the longest?
The claws of the therizinosaurus could measure up to 1 meter or 3feet long. they had these huge claws on both upper limbs. They were t he longest of any land animal ever.
Did Therizinosaurus live in groups?
We just don’t know if therizinosaurus lived together or just gathered together to protect eggs and young. However, we have found nests with eggs in from different adults very close together which means they did come together at some points.
Conclusion
Although the Therizinosaurus may have entered the publics’ imagination this year due to the release of the Last chapter of the Jurassic World movie series. It has been around for at least 70 years in the eyes of scientists, and of course in the eyes of the world for about 75 million years!
With its Wolverine type claws, huge size and long arms it certainly deserves the attention it is now getting.
Don’t forget we have loads of other dinosaur facts and questions all over this site, with free printables and resources and even a shop as well. Fell free to check them out if you want more dinosaur information.
Some of My Dinosaur Resource Recommendations for Home and School.
Thanks for taking the time to read our facts and questions articles, as a teacher myself i have struggled to find resources in one place and that is why this website was born. I simply love teaching students about dinosaurs both in my role as a language and General Studies teacher. However there is sometimes a need for something more concrete than a printout (as useful as we think ours are! )
There is something awesome about the feeling of awe that these amazing creatures instil in our children and students. To further help you, and potentially me, i have included a few resources below that i have found to be incredibly successful when explaining dinosaurs to children, these range form books and resources, to toys fossils and dinosaur figures.
Sometimes having something tactile to touch in those tiny hands help to focus and cement learning and develop those big brains! Hope they are helpful too.
Dinosaur Books and Readers
There are of course hundreds of excellent, and not so excellent books on Dinosaurs for Children out there. So rather than, yet, go into huge detail. I will highlight the ones I love to use with my students from ages 6 to 10. We have include AR in these as well. ( nothing quite like a moving dinosaur in front of you!
Fossil Sets
I cant say how great these are to use in a classroom while reading with a group. the chance to read about a dinosaur and then touch a real piece is simply great. I have a selection ( self confessed dinosaur geek) but a cheap set of 10 or so will do the trick just as well. Dinosaur poop is great as well!!! i pass it round and ask them to guess what it is first!
Dinosaur Figures
I actually use realia in a lot of classes especially with animals and dinosaurs, and figures help to show the kind of animal we are reading about. It is possible to spend hundreds of dollars on dinosaur figures but ther eis no need, either as a teacher or a parent. The set below and similar we have used to help students picture dinosaurs to great effect.
References
https://www.britannica.com/animal/therizinosaur
https://phys.org/news/2014-05-teeth-claws-dinosaur-claw-function.html
https://museum.wa.gov.au/explore/dinosaur-discovery/therizinosaurus
Hi, I am Roy Ford a General Studies and English Teacher who has taught all over the world. What started as a fossil collection became a great way to teach, motivate and inspire students of all ages and all over the world about dinosaurs and from that and children’s love of dinosaurs came the site dinosaur facts for kids, a resource for all ages.
