Therizinosauridae
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
| Therizinosauridae
Conservation status: Fossil | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genera | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Alxasaurus elesitaiensis |
Therizinosauridae is a family of dinosaur species with related characteristics, belonging to the more including group of the Therizinosauroidea. Therizinosaur fossils have been found in Early through Late Cretaceous deposits in Mongolia, the People's Republic of China and Western North America. Various features of the forelimbs, skull, and pelvis, unite them quite comfortably, both as probable theropods and, as Maniraptora, close relatives to birds.
Among the most striking characteristics of therizinosaurs are the enormous claws on their hands, which reached lengths of three feet. Since the therizinosauroid Beipiaosaurus was feathered, it's likely that all the therizinosaurs were. Although they are classified as theropods, specifically maniraptors, therizinosaurs had skulls similar to those of sauropods, and the shape of their teeth and jaws make it likely that they were herbivores.
The relation between the more derived therizinosaurids and other theropods has been greatly elucidated by the find of the primitive therizinosauroid Falcarius in 2005: "Falcarius utahensis seems to represent an intermediate stage between a carnivorous and herbivorous form (and) is the missing link between predatory dinosaurs and the bizarre plant-eating therizinosaurs." BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4512487.stm)
External links and references
- Therizinosauroidae - UCMP, Berkeley (http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/diapsids/saurischia/therizinosauroidea.html)
- Therizinosauria (http://www.bowdoin.edu/~dbensen/Spec/Therizinosauria-As.html)
- Evo Wiki (http://www.evowiki.org/index.php/Therizinosaurs) (Uses creative commons license. Can not be wholesale copied into Biocrawler.)
