PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Therizinosauridae

Reptilia - Therizinosauridae

Taxonomy

Therizinosauridae was named by Maleev (1954). Its type is Therizinosaurus. It was considered monophyletic by Currie (2000).

It was assigned to Reptilia by Maleev (1954); to Carnosauria by Ostrom (1980); to Deinocheirosauria by Barsbold (1976), Barsbold (1977) and Barsbold (1983); to Theropoda by Barsbold (1976), Rozhdestvensky (1977) and Carroll (1988); to Segnosauria by Nessov (1995); to Ornithomimosauria by Sereno (1998) and Sereno (1999); to Coelurosauria by Sereno et al. (1994), Sereno (1997) and Kirkland and Wolfe (2001); and to Therizinosauroidea by Russell and Dong (1994), Clark et al. (1995), Currie (2000), Zhang et al. (2001), Xu et al. (2002), Rauhut (2003), Clark et al. (2004), Zanno (2004), Zanno (2006), Li et al. (2007), Li et al. (2008), Li (2008), Zanno et al. (2009), Zanno (2010), Senter et al. (2012) and Pu et al. (2013).

Subtaxa

Enigmosaurus, Erliansaurus, Eshanosaurus, Nanshiungosaurus, Neimongosaurus, Nothronychus, Paralitherizinosaurus, Segnosaurus, Suzhousaurus, Therizinosaurus (type genus), Tiantaisaurus

Synonyms

Erlikosauridae was named by Eberth et al. (2001).

It was synonymized subjectively with Therizinosauridae by Zanno (2010).

It was assigned to Therizinosauria by Eberth et al. (2001).
Segnosauridae was named by Perle (1979).

It was synonymized subjectively with Therizinosauridae by Russell and Dong (1994), Clark et al. (1995), Clark et al. (2004), Zanno et al. (2009) and Zanno (2010).

It was assigned to Archosauria by Carroll (1988); to Sauropodomorpha by Mader and Bradley (1989); to Segnosauria by Barsbold and Perle (1980), Barsbold (1983) and Nessov (1995); and to Segnosaurischia by Dong (1992) and Dong and Yu (1997).
Nanshiungosauridae was named by Dong and Yu (1997).

It was synonymized subjectively with Therizinosauridae by Zanno et al. (2009) and Zanno (2010).

It was assigned to Segnosaurischia by Dong and Yu (1997).
Enigmosauridae was named by Barsbold and Perle (1983) [named in this paper].

It was synonymized subjectively with Therizinosauridae by Zanno et al. (2009) and Zanno (2010).

It was assigned to Segnosauria by Barsbold (1983).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1954	Therizinosauridae Maleev p. 108
1976	Therizinosauridae Barsbold p. 75
1977	Therizinosauridae Barsbold p. 50
1977	Therizinosauridae Rozhdestvensky p. 112
1979	Segnosauridae Perle p. 45
1980	Segnosauridae Barsbold and Perle pp. 187-188
1980	Therizinosauridae Ostrom p. 22
1983	Therizinosauridae Barsbold p. 101
1983	Segnosauridae Barsbold p. 104
1983	Enigmosauridae Barsbold p. 106
1983	Enigmosauridae Barsbold and Perle p. 106
1988	Segnosauridae Carroll
1988	Therizinosauridae Carroll
1989	Segnosauridae Mader and Bradley p. 51
1992	Segnosauridae Dong p. 167
1994	Therizinosauridae Russell and Dong pp. 2119-2120
1994	Therizinosauridae Sereno et al. p. 270
1995	Therizinosauridae Clark et al. p. 24A
1995	Segnosauridae Nessov pp. 35-36
1995	Therizinosauridae Nessov pp. 35-36
1997	Nanshiungosauridae Dong and Yu p. 90
1997	Segnosauridae Dong and Yu p. 90
1997	Therizinosauridae Sereno p. 457
1998	Therizinosauridae Sereno p. 65
1999	Therizinosauridae Sereno p. 2139 fig. 2
2000	Therizinosauridae Currie p. 439
2001	Erlikosauridae Eberth et al. p. 58
2001	Therizinosauridae Kirkland and Wolfe p. 410
2001	Therizinosauridae Zhang et al. p. 284
2002	Therizinosauridae Xu et al. p. 230
2003	Therizinosauridae Rauhut p. 41
2004	Therizinosauridae Clark et al. p. 152
2004	Therizinosauridae Zanno p. 134A
2006	Therizinosauridae Zanno p. 648
2007	Therizinosauridae Li et al. pp. 546-547 fig. 4
2008	Therizinosauridae Li p. 47
2008	Therizinosauridae Li et al. pp. 778-779
2009	Therizinosauridae Zanno et al. pp. S1-5
2010	Therizinosauridae Zanno p. 519–520
2012	Therizinosauridae Senter et al. p. 11 fig. 7
2013	Therizinosauridae Pu et al.

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
—	Sauropsida
class	Reptilia
subclass	Eureptilia	()
—	Romeriida

Rank	Name	Author
—	Diapsida	()
—	Archosauromorpha	(Huene 1946)
—	Crocopoda
—	Archosauriformes	Gauthier 1986
—	Eucrocopoda
—	Archosauria	()
informal	Avemetatarsalia
—	Ornithodira
—	Dinosauromorpha
—	Dinosauriformes
—	Dinosauria	()
—	Theropoda	()
—	Neotheropoda
—	Averostra	Paul 2002
—	Tetanurae
—	Coelurosauria	()
—	Maniraptoriformes
—	Therizinosauria	Russell 1997
superfamily	Therizinosauroidea
family	Therizinosauridae
family	Therizinosauridae

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Fm. †Therizinosauridae Maleev 1954

show all | hide all

G. †Enigmosaurus Barsbold and Perle 1983 [enigmatic lizard]

hide

†Enigmosaurus mongoliensis Barsbold and Perle 1983

G. †Erliansaurus Xu et al. 2002

hide

†Erliansaurus bellamanus Xu et al. 2002

G. †Eshanosaurus Xu et al. 2001

hide

†Eshanosaurus deguchiianus Xu et al. 2001

G. †Nanshiungosaurus Dong 1979

hide

†Nanshiungosaurus bohlini Dong and Yu 1997

†Nanshiungosaurus brevispinus Dong 1979

G. †Neimongosaurus Zhang et al. 2001

hide

†Neimongosaurus yangi Zhang et al. 2001

G. †Nothronychus Kirkland and Wolfe 2001

hide

†Nothronychus graffami Zanno et al. 2009

†Nothronychus mckinleyi Kirkland and Wolfe 2001

G. †Paralitherizinosaurus Kobayashi et al. 2022

hide

†Paralitherizinosaurus japonicus Kobayashi et al. 2022

G. †Segnosaurus Perle 1979

hide

†Segnosaurus galbinensis Perle 1979

G. †Suzhousaurus Li et al. 2007 [Suzhou lizard]

hide

†Suzhousaurus megatherioides Li et al. 2007

G. †Therizinosaurus Maleev 1954

hide

†Therizinosaurus cheloniformis Maleev 1954

G. †Tiantaisaurus Qian et al. 2012

hide

†Tiantaisaurus sifengensis Qian et al. 2012

Invalid names: Enigmosauridae Barsbold and Perle 1983 [synonym], Erlikosauridae Eberth et al. 2001 [synonym], Nanshiungosauridae Dong and Yu 1997 [synonym], Segnosauridae Perle 1979 [synonym]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteo

Entire body:

yeso

Adult length:

10 to < 100o

Adult width:

1.0 to < 10o

Adult height:

1.0 to < 10o

Maximum body mass:

10000 kgg

Minimum body mass:

3000 kgg

Architecture:

compact or denseo

Ontogeny:

accretion, modification of partso

Grouping:

solitaryo

Environment:

terrestrialsuperf

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

ground dwellingsuperf

Diet:

herbivoresuperf

Reproduction:

oviparoussuperf

Dispersal:

direct/internalo

Dispersal 2:

mobileo

Created:

2005-09-11 17:03:44

Modified:

2005-09-11 19:03:44

Source: g = genus, superf = superfamily, o = order

References: Peczkis 1995, Marsh 1875, Holtz et al. 2000

Age range: base of the Hettangian to the top of the Late/Upper Campanian or 201.30000 to 70.60000 Ma

Collections (23 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Hettangian	201.3 - 199.3	China (Yunnan)	Therizinosauroidea indet. (51909)
Late/Upper Valanginian	140.2 - 136.4	South Africa (Eastern Cape)	Carnosauria indet. (55273)
Valanginian	139.8 - 132.9	Russian Federation (Buryat)	Therizinosauroidea indet. (58196)
Aptian	125.0 - 113.0	China (Gansu)	Suzhousaurus megatherioides (76900)
Early/Lower Albian	112.03 - 109.0	China (Gansu)	Nanshiungosaurus bohlini (45168) Suzhousaurus megatherioides (84007)
Late/Upper Albian	105.3 - 99.6	China (Zhejiang)	Tiantaisaurus sifengensis (175968)
Cenomanian - Santonian	100.5 - 83.6	Mongolia (Dornogov)	Segnosaurus galbinensis, Enigmosaurus mongoliensis (118167)
Cenomanian - Santonian	100.5 - 83.6	Mongolia (Omnogov)	Segnosauridae indet. (55254) Segnosaurus galbinensis (67974 79724 224602)
Late/Upper Cenomanian - Early/Lower Turonian	99.6 - 89.3	Japan (Kumamoto)	Therizinosauridae indet. (51963)
Early/Lower Turonian	93.5 - 89.3	USA (Utah)	Therizinosauridae indet. (67973)
Middle Turonian	93.5 - 89.3	USA (New Mexico)	Nothronychus mckinleyi (52033)
Santonian - Early/Lower Campanian	86.3 - 70.6	Kazakhstan (Qyzylorda)	Tarbosaurus sp. (59702) Therizinosauridae indet. (53134)
Early/Lower Santonian	85.8 - 83.5	Tajikistan (Sogd)	Oviraptoridae indet. (58701)
Early/Lower Campanian	83.5 - 70.6	Japan (Hokkaido)	Maniraptora indet. (87521)
Middle Campanian - Late/Upper Campanian	83.5 - 70.6	China (Nei Mongol)	Neimongosaurus yangi, Erliansaurus bellamanus (55713)
Maastrichtian	72.1 - 66.0	Mongolia (Omnogov)	Therizinosaurus cheloniformis (88554 179625)
Maastrichtian	72.1 - 66.0	China (Guangdong)	Nanshiungosaurus brevispinus (58448)