Therizinosaurus cheloniformis

Art

Goal for the week 12hrs

Animal

Photo by Akma

Therizinosaurus cheloniformis was a theropod from the maniraptoran clade that evolved into sort of a dinosaur version of a giant ground sloth. The first remains of this animal were found in Mongolia in 1954. Their body is large and slow and seems well suited for sitting. They were thought to use their giant meter long claws to help pull leaves to their mouth. It is also theorized that they used the large claws for defense.  An alternate theory for the giant claws is that they were more like a giant ant eater and used them to tear open termite mounds.  They were thought to be over 20 feet long and weigh around 1000lbs. When the claws of this group of dinosaurs were first found they were thought to belong to a giant turtle.