Nothronychus
Nothronychus was a weird dinosaur that looked like a giant sloth with a beak. It had long arms with sharp claws and a big pot belly. Even though it was a theropod, it ate plants, not meat.1
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Fun facts
Nothronychus was the first therizinosaur ever found in the Americas. All earlier therizinosaur fossils came from China and Mongolia.1
Its claws were up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) long and curved like hooks. Scientists think it used them to pull down branches to eat.1
Nothronychus had four forward-facing toes on each foot, which helped it walk slowly and steadily.1
One species, Nothronychus graffami, was found in rocks that were once under a shallow sea called the Western Interior Seaway. The dinosaur's bones were mixed with marine reptile fossils.1
The first Nothronychus bone was mistaken for part of a horned dinosaur's skull. Only later did scientists realize it was a hip bone from a therizinosaur.1
Most asked questions about Nothronychus
?How big was Nothronychus?
It was about 4.2 to 5.3 metres (14 to 17 feet) long and weighed 800 to 1,200 kilograms (1,800 to 2,600 pounds).1
?What did Nothronychus eat?
It ate plants. Even though it was a theropod dinosaur, it was a herbivore.12
?Did Nothronychus have feathers?
No feather fossils have been found, but its relatives had feathers, so scientists think it probably did too.3
?When did Nothronychus live?
It lived during the Late Cretaceous period, about 94 to 89 million years ago.2
?Why did Nothronychus have long claws?
It used its long, curved claws to pull down branches so it could eat leaves.1
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For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Nothronychus
- Named by
- Kirkland and Wolfe 20014
- Group
- Odd feathered dinos
- Family / clade
- Therizinosauridae4
- Classification
- Theropoda > Therizinosauria4
- Age of the rocks
- 94 to 90 million years (Turonian)4
- Rock formations
- Moreno Hill, Tropic Shale4
- Countries
- USA4
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
- Discovery
- Nothronychus was named in 2001 by paleontologists James Kirkland and Douglas Wolfe. The first fossils were found in New Mexico on land owned by rancher Bobby McKinley, who the species N. mckinleyi is named after.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure if Nothronychus had feathers. Since it is a theropod closely related to birds, it might have had feathers, but no direct fossil evidence has been found yet.1
Where the facts come from
- Nothronychus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Nothronychus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Nothronychus Fact Sheet - Enchanted Learning (enchantedlearning.com)
- Nothronychus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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