Falcarius
Falcarius was a strange dinosaur that looked like a mix between an ostrich, a gorilla, and Edward Scissorhands! It had a small head, a long neck, and huge curved claws on its hands. This dinosaur lived in what is now Utah, USA, about 139 to 134 million years ago.1
When did it live?
How big was it?
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How tall was it?
at the hips (1 m) and standing height (1.4 m)
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Fun facts
Falcarius is one of the most primitive therizinosaurs ever found. It helps scientists understand how meat-eating dinosaurs turned into plant-eaters.2
Over 3,000 bones of Falcarius have been dug up from a single quarry in Utah. That's a lot of fossils!1
Falcarius had a long neck that let it reach leaves about 1.5 metres (5 feet) off the ground.1
Its hand claws were huge and curved, like sickles. That's how it got its name, which means 'sickle cutter'.1
Falcarius probably had feathers, like its close relatives from Asia.1
The smallest Falcarius was less than 1 metre (3.3 feet) long, but adults grew to about 4 to 5 metres (13 to 16 feet).1
Most asked questions about Falcarius
?How big was Falcarius?
About 4 metres (13 feet) long and about 1.4 metres (4.5 feet) tall at the hip, weighing around 100 kilograms (220 pounds). The smallest known individual was less than 1 metre (3.3 feet) long.14
?What did Falcarius eat?
Mostly plants. Its leaf-shaped, serrated teeth were good for shredding leaves, but the pointed front teeth suggest it might have also eaten small animals like lizards sometimes.1
?Did Falcarius have feathers?
Scientists think yes. No feathers were found with its fossils, but its close feathered relatives from China make it very likely Falcarius had shaggy, hair-like proto-feathers.4
?How fast could Falcarius run?
Probably not very fast. Its lower legs were stubby, which suggests it no longer needed to run after prey like its meat-eating relatives did.4
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Falcarius
- Named by
- Kirkland et al. 20055
- Group
- Odd feathered dinos
- Family / clade
- Therizinosauria5
- Classification
- Theropoda > Therizinosauria5
- Age of the rocks
- 143 to 133 million years (Berriasian / Valanginian)5
- Rock formations
- Cedar Mountain5
- Countries
- USA5
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- Falcarius was discovered in 1999 by fossil collector Lawrence Walker in Utah. Scientists named it in 2005.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure if Falcarius was a pure plant-eater or if it also ate meat. Its front teeth are sharp and pointed, which might mean it ate small animals too.1
Where the facts come from
- Falcarius (en.wikipedia.org)
- A primitive therizinosauroid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Utah | Nature (nature.com)
- A Primitive Therizinosauroid Dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Utah - DocsLib (docslib.org)
- Falcarius Utahensis - Utah Geological Survey (geology.utah.gov)
- Falcarius in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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