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Therizinosaurus is an extinct genus of the therizinosaurid family that lived in Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous period around 70 million years ago.

The appearance of Therizinosaurus had been a debate until recent decades because of the highly incomplete nature of early finds and a lack of knowledge of the dinosaurs that would come to be categorized later as therizinosauridae. During the early phases of its discovery, it was assumed to be a species of an aquatic turtle. After several examinations and revisions, it was given the description of a gigantic carnosaur (at the time, a family that included most large carnivorous dinosaurs) measuring 55 ft in length. After the discovery of related species Nothronychus, the debate over its appearance ended. While its diet remains unconfirmed, Therizinosaurus was originally thought to be a carnivore, at the point when it was incorrectly theorized to be a much larger animal with a radically different body plan. However, today, scientists agree that Therizinosaurus was not carnivorous, instead being herbivorous, based on studies of its close relatives like Erlikosaurus, Segnosaurus, Nothronychus, and Falcarius. Based on studies of its relatives, Therizinosaurus is believed to have had weak jaws and probably would have fed by sitting down and using its long arms and claws to pull vegetation into its mouth. Footprints suggested to have come from unknown therizinosaurids suggest it may have had a plantigrade walking stance, similar to bears and crocodiles. It remains unknown whether paleontologists will find a complete fossil and skull of Therizinosaurus in the near future.

Dinosaur researchers Florence and Charlie Magovern discovered two 18-inch-long fossilized eggs in the Xixia Basin in Nanyang, China. These are perhaps the largest eggs of any animal ever found. In 1995, a study of one of these eggs conducted by the Mcgoverns and others revealed the bones of a tiny theropod, which possibly belong to a therizinosaur or a herbivore about which little is known. The fossil baby was named "Baby Louie" after photographer Louie Psihoyos.[2]

Characteristics[]

Measuring 10 meters long (32.8 feet), standing 5 meters tall (16.4 feet), and weighing 4,935kg (5.4 tons),[3] the cloned Therizinosaurus was skinnier than its real counterpart, and walked with a horizontal gate rather than a more vertical one. The Therizinosaurus had a long neck ending in a relatively small, boxy, and beaked skull, large arms and hands ending in three large claws, and feathers covering the back of its arms and body. The Therizinosaurus was gray, with a red back and blue ridges above its eyes. This species is extremely territorial, and will viciously attack anything within its territory. At some point in its life, the Therizinosaurus within the valley was blinded at the right eye and has a white layer over its eye similar to cataracts. As a result, the Therizinosaurus would find its way through the sanctuary via echolocation, smell, hearing, and the left eye that can still be used.

Behavioral[]

The Therizinosaurus individual residing in the valley displayed indications of blindness, with no other individuals of its species nearby. This observation raises the possibility that it was either expelled from a herd due to its weakness or, more plausibly, that it was naturally a solitary creature. This specific individual heavily depended on its sense of hearing, utilizing its long front claws to carefully explore and evaluate its surroundings while in motion.

While traversing its territory, the Therizinosaurus detected the presence of another creature, possibly a passing individual seeking food in the forest. It pinpointed the sound of a deer feeding and swiftly struck it down, seizing the opportunity to consume the berries nearby. Shortly after, the Therizinosaurus caught the sound of Claire Dearing, who was crawling away near a pond. As it lost track of the sounds emanating from her, the Therizinosaurus lowered its head closer to the water's surface, emitting a roar that could potentially serve as a means of intimidation, or perhaps it was a display of dominance.

The Therizinosaurus displayed a remarkable ability to defend itself against predators, relying heavily on its acute hearing. When confronted with a loud roar emanating from in front of itself, it instinctively reacted by vigorously swiping at its adversaries with its formidable claws. The loss of a single claw, even from the powerful bite of a Giganotosaurus, inflicted considerable pain upon the Therizinosaurus.

Interestingly, the claws of Therizinosaurus proved to be not only defensive tools but also potent weapons in the hands of other dinosaurs. This was demonstrated when Rexy, the Tyrannosaurus rex, utilized the Therizinosaurus' claws to impale the Giganotosaurus, ultimately leading to its demise.

History[]

Jurassic World[]

The DNA of Therizinosaurus was used in the creation of the Indominus rex in Jurassic World.[1]

Jurassic World: Dominion[]

A Therizinosaurus was cloned by Biosyn and kept within Biosyn Sanctuary. After ejecting from a crashing plane, Claire Dearing encountered the Therizinosaurus as she was hanging from the seat and parachute she ejected in. The dinosaur at first failed to notice her due to its blindness, and kept moving to instead to fatally swat a nearby deer it heard and begin grazing. Claire used this opportunity to unbuckle and fall to the ground, but the crash alerted the Therizinosaurus to her presence. The Therizinosaurus began stalking around in search of Claire as she crawled into a pond. Claire eventually managed to get far enough in the pond to fully submerge herself until the dinosaur left.

The Therizinosaurus would be evacuated to the Biosyn compound after Lewis Dodgson tried to dispose of his bio-engineered locusts, causing a huge forest fire in the valley. During the rampage of the Giganotosaurus and its fight with the Tyrannosaurus known as Rexy, Kayla Watts used a flare to distract the Giganotosaurus away from her and the evacuating Owen Grady, Claire Dearing, Maisie Lockwood, Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, Ian Malcolm, Ramsay Cole, and Henry Wu, causing its attention to focus on the Therizinosaurus, which followed the flare, leading it to encounter the Giganotosaurus, which succeeded in knocking the tyrannosaur unconscious seconds earlier. The Therizinosaurus was quick to fight back when confronted, delivering slashing wounds to the larger carcharodontosaurid, but lost a claw on its left hand to the Giganotosaurus' bites. When Rexy regained consciousness, the Giganotosaurus was unable to determine quickly enough which enemy was the greater threat, allowing Rexy to ram the Giganotosaurus onto the claws of Therizinosaurus, killing it, as the two dinosaurs roar in victory.

It can be assumed that the Therizinosaurus is out in the wild, or continuing to live in the abandoned sanctuary which is now an international preserve, possibly with others of its kind.

Gallery[]

Promotional Images[]

Jurassic World Dominion[]

Behind the Scenes[]

According to Industrial Light and Magic's Sr. Visual Effects Supervisor David Vickery, a long part of the Therizinosaurus' development was spent looking at what types of feathers it would have, which turned out to be hair-like, sparse, vein stuctuted feathers. This worked well with the idea of giving the feathers an oily-looking irridencents.

Trivia[]

  • Therizinosaurus is one of only six therizinosaurs in the larger franchise. The other five being Beipiaosaurus, Erlikosaurus, Enigmosaurus, Nothronychus, and Segnosaurus. Of these six, Therizinosaurus is the only one thus far to appear in any of the franchise's main films.
  • The Therizinosaurus seen in Dominion was confirmed by Dominion's animators team that it's blinded at the right eye. it has severe Cataracts and Corneal opacity. But many fans think it's blinded in both eyes. However, if notice it carefully, its left eye was still able to function normally.
  • Although it chased Claire as if she were its prey, the Therizinosaurus was a herbivore and only attacked when it felt threatened.
  • The gender of Therizinosaurus is never mentioned or spoken of in the film. But according to observations from Colin Trevorrow interviews, he referred to the Therizinosaurus with male pronouns.
  • When the Therizinosaurus roars at the pond Claire is in, a piece of the roar from the Indoraptor can be heard.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 WIRED - Creating Jurassic World’s New Genetically Modified Dinosaur (June 12, 2015) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o8GHd17aiE
  2. Inkworks Jurassic Park III Premium Trading Cards #54.
  3. https://i.imgur.com/TYtYzo7.png Dinotracker.com

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