Posted on 07/17/2009 8:41:30 PM PDT by JoeProBono
Don't let the Wolverine-like claws fool you. Unlike the X-men's most popular pugilist, this new dinosaur species was no predator, scientists say.
Dubbed Nothronychus graffami, the 13-foot-tall (4-meter-tall) therizinosaur (reconstructed skeleton pictured) lived about 92.5 million years ago in what is present-day Utah.
N. graffami's claw bones are 9 inches (23 centimeters) long. But in life, sheathed in hornlike keratin, the talons would have each been about a foot (30 centimeters) long, or about as long as the dinosaur's head.
(Related: how therizinosaurs shed light on dinosaur growth.)
In addition to its imposing claws—a therizinosaur trademark—the newfound dinosaur had a less-than-fearsome potbelly, a birdlike beak, stumpy legs, and a short tail, according to a report published online today by the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
N. graffami's leaf-shaped teeth and big belly suggest the animal was a plant-eater—so why the killer claws?
"We really don't know," said study team member Lindsay Zanno of the Field Museum in Chicago.
Very cool, thanks for posting it.
Think of all the CO2 these guys gave off running down the road!?!?!? Talk about carbon footprint!
HT picture in 5, 4, 3, 2...
Thems is some serious claws! That dude probably ruled his hunting grounds.
Well, if they clone ‘em and release ‘em around us, we can work up a load for ‘em. ;-)
Ranger Rick’s Tyrannosaurus Thumpers
http://www.reloadammo.com/ranger-rick-bullet.htm
HelenThomasourass
"We really don't know," said study team member Lindsay Zanno of the Field Museum in Chicago.
For digging up roots?
I guess I need to be the first one to post the obvious!
The damn thing had large claws to grasp trees and pull them down to get to the tender leaves!
Sometimes scientists truly are stupid!
Crochet needles had not yet been invented so this was an adaptive modification to allow the critter to do needlepoint.
That was easy. Next question?
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Nothronychus graffami. Looks like a bowling dino. |
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The Fossilised Claws of the Therizinosaur (N. graffami)
Therizinosaur... was there ever a Thorazinosaur? Vegetarian dino, when eaten caused the predators to get very very sleepy...
A direct line of evolution of the species leads to my ex-mother-in-law.
I never knew that wolverines had potbellies.
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An ancestor of Helen Thomas?
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