How Big Was the Therizinosaurus?

Although a Herbivore and probably relatively placid the therizinosaurus has been portrayed as a short-tempered, angry and a territorial dinosaur, fortunately though still as a herbivore! It is famous from its appearance in Jurassic World Dominion and for its 2-3 feet long claws on its hands / fore limbs. Though these claws were certainly large, in fact Therizinosaurus was huge and we take a look at how big below

Therizinosaurus is estimated to be up to 9-10 metres in length ( 30-33 feet), 4-5 metres in height ( 13-15 feet) and weighted an incredible 3,000 to 5,000 kg ( 6600 to 11,000 lbs). Making it one of the largest theropods, and the largest bipedal dinosaur herbivore.

We will Explore more about the size of the Therizinosaurus by examining its length, weight, and height, as well as comparing it with other popular dinosaurs such as Triceratops, Parasaurolophus, and Stegosaurus in the article below.

Just how big was a therizinosaurus?

Unless you are a full on dinosaur nut you probably know this dinosaur from the Jurassic World Dominion movie released in 2022, or possibly the Jurassic World Evolution game for Xbox, Playstation and Xbox.

In both the game and movie it was portrayed as a huge, and pretty ill tempered, herbivore and for once the movies got something right, about the size at least.

Therizinosaurus is estimated to be up to 9-10 metres in length ( 30-33 feet), 4-5 metres in height ( 13-15 feet) and weighted an incredible 3,000 to 5,000 kg ( 6600 to 11,000 lbs). Making it one of the largest theropods, and the largest bipedal dinosaur herbivore.

We break down the details and offer some comparisons on it height length and weight in the sections below.

DinosaurLength HeightWeight When it Lived (mya)
Therizinosaurus30 -33 feet (9-10 metres) 4-5 metres (13-15 feet) 6600-11 lbs (3-5000 kg)70 mya
Could A Therizinosaurus how big

Length of Therizinosaurus

The Therizinosaurus is estimated to have reached lengths of up to 33 feet (10 meters), making it one of the largest theropods to have ever existed. Although it was not as long as some of the massive sauropods, its length still rivals that of some other well-known four-legged dinosaurs.

For example, the Triceratops reached lengths of about 26 -30 feet (8-9 meters), while the Parasaurolophus and Stegosaurus both measured around 30 feet (9-9.5 meters) long. However although it was comparable to these herbivores in length in was much taller which we take a look at below.

Height of Therizinosaurus

The most prominent, although that’s arguable, feature of a Therizinosaurus was its height (as well as its claws) It stood at an estimated height of around 16 feet (4.8 meters) at the hip, Its long neck allowed it to reach higher vegetation, granting it access to food sources that other dinosaurs may not have been able to reach.

it made it much taller than Triceratops which stood at about 9.8 feet (3 meters) tall, and even while Parasaurolophus and Stegosaurus reached heights of around 13 feet (4 meters) and 14 feet (4.3 meters), respectively.

Weight of Therizinosaurus

Therizinosaurus is believed to have weighed between 3 and 5,000 kg (6.600 – 11,000 lbs), which means it was considerably lighter than some of the largest herbivorous dinosaurs like Triceratops for example. The unique body structure of the Therizinosaurus, which was more much less bulky then the four legged herbivorous dinosaurs. You can check this yourself in the table below.

While still huge in contemporary time it was likely smaller in relation to other of the large herbivores to enable it to move through forests more effectively and with greater ease.

Claw Size

One of the most famous features, of the Therizinosaurus, especially since the Jurassic World movies, are its enormous claws which took down the movies Giganotosaurus. The dinosaur’s forelimbs boasted claws that measured up to 2 feet (0.5+ metre) in length, making them the longest claws of any known animal past or present.

While primary used for gathering food and stripping branches, they were certainly a deterrent to any predatory dinosaurs that may consider it a meal and whether it used them for this purpose or not is still being debated by paleontologists.

We have the comparison on estimated sizes of Therizinosaurus and other dinosaurs below for easy reference.

Size Comparison Table with Therizinosaurus and other dinsoaurs

DinosaurMax Length [m/f}]Max Height [m/f]Max Weight [lbs/kg]
Therizinosaurus30 -33 feet (9-10 metres) 4-5 metres (13-15 feet) 6600-11 lbs (3-5000 kg)
Stegosaurus30 feet (9 metres)11 feet (3.5 metres) 7700 lbs (3500 kg)
Triceratops26-30 feet (8-10 metres) 9,5 feet (3 metres) 11-17,000 lbs (5-8,000 kg)
Ankylosaurus20 -26 feet (6 -8 metres) 5-6 feet (2 metres) 9-17,000 lbs (4-8000 kg)
Brachiosaurus75 feet (23 metres) 39 feet (12 metres) 40-103000 lbs (18-47,000 kg)
Tyrannosaurus Rex40+ feet (12 metres) 12-14 feet 11- 15000 Lbs (5-7000 kg)

Geographical Distribution and Fossil Discoveries

The Therizinosaurus fossils have primarily been found in Mongolia, in the Gobi Desert, with the first discovery dating back to 1948. It wasn’t described until 1954 though. The initial find consisted of a set of massive, sickle-shaped claws, which puzzled paleontologists at the time and were mistaken for turtle claws initially.

Later discoveries in the 1970s helped to shed more light on this enigmatic dinosaur, including the discovery of partial limb bones and vertebrae and possible ribs ( although recently these have been suggested to belong to a Sauropod). However, despite numerous expeditions, a complete skeleton of Therizinosaurus has yet to be found.

Therizinosaurus ,scary dinosaur

Environment and Contemporaries

Therizinosaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous period, approximately 70 million years ago. The environment in which it lived was likely a mix of semi-arid plains, forests, and rivers. This mixed and diverse landscape provided plenty of both food and cover – when needed – for the Therizinosaurus.

Several other dinosaur species shared the Late Cretaceous environment with the Therizinosaurus, its probable threats included the therapod predator Tarbosaurus, whcih was a T-Rex sized predator. The duck-billed dinosaur Saurolophus, and the armored dinosaur Tarchia would not have posed a threat but would have competed along side it for food.

Behavior and Lifestyle

Although the Therizinosaurus’ exact behavior remains unknown due to the limited fossil evidence, from other fossils of similar dinosaurs we can make some suggestions. Its long neck and formidable claws, which would not be that much use in hunting, suggest that it was a primarily herbivorous dinosaur, using its unique anatomy to reach and strip vegetation from trees.

Therizinosaurus may have been a solitary or social creature, but other fossils of therizinosaurs have been found together so evidence suggest that at least some of this family of dinosaurs did live together in groups.

If it did live in groups, it’s possible that the long claws played a role in intraspecific interactions such as mating displays or establishing dominance hierarchies. As well as of course warning off any predator that got too close! It would be quite a sight 5 or 6 huge therizinosaurus standing and waving those at you!

We have a series of articles on How Big Dinosaurs were, including sauropods and carnivores, and you can follow the links below to check out the size of other popular dinosaurs. We are expanding this section on a regular basis.

How Big was AllosaurusHow Big was T-RexHow Big was PterodactylHow Big was Triceratops
How Big was StegosaurusHow Big was AmphicoeliasHow Big were Dinosaur BabiesHow big was Spinosaurus
How Big were dinosaur eggsHow Big was a ParasaurolophusHow Big was CarnotaurusHow Big Was Giganotosaurus
How big was DilophosaurusHow Big was ArgentinosaurusHow big was VelociraptorHow big was Brachiosaurus
How Big was AnkylosaurusHow big was CarcharodontosaurusHow big was therizinosaurusHow big was Ceratosaurus
How big was KronosaurusHow big was Meraxes gigasHow big was MosasaurusHow big was Megalodon

Conclusion

The Therizinosaurus is certainly one of the more unusual dinosaurs that have been unearthed and that huge size and massive claws have caused confusion over the years on exactly what is was and where it belonged in the family of dinosaurs.

So while Dinosaur movies to tend to get things wrong, or exaggerate the size of their creations the therizinosaurus is one they seem to have got pretty much correct. No idea why they made it blind though!

References

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