Therizinosaurus Coloring Pages

The Owner of Super Long Claws

Therizinosaurus was a dinosaur with super long claws on its front legs. The claw bones that were found are over 50 centimeters long! When it was alive, a hard outer layer covered them. So people think they were actually even longer. It is said to have the longest claws of any known animal!

Its Name Means "Scythe Lizard"

The name Therizinosaurus means "reaping lizard." It got this name because its long claws looked like a scythe, a tool used to cut grass. "Saurus" means "lizard," and it is used in many dinosaur names. Just hearing the name helps you imagine what it looked like!

It Ate Plants Even Though Its Relatives Ate Meat

Therizinosaurus belongs to the theropod group, just like Tyrannosaurus and Velociraptor. Theropods usually ate meat, but people think Therizinosaurus ate plants! The reasons are that the tip of its mouth was a beak with no teeth, and it had a big, round belly. But there is still not much clear proof yet.

People Think It Had Feathers on Its Body

People think this dinosaur had bird-like feathers on its body. No feather fossils of Therizinosaurus itself have been found yet. But feathers were found on fossils of its close relatives, so scientists guessed from that! On the coloring page, can you see how it is fluffy from the back of its neck to its shoulders, the base of its front legs, and the tip of its tail?

Its Body Was About as Big as a House

It was about 8 to 11 meters long. People think it was over 4 meters tall when it stood up! It walked on two legs and stretched its neck to eat leaves high up. It had a big, thick body, and its back legs were short and thick. It was a slow-walking dinosaur, not a fast runner like Tyrannosaurus.

When and Where Did It Live?

Therizinosaurus lived near the end of the Cretaceous period, about 70 million years ago. Its fossils were found in Mongolia. Back then, that area had gentle rivers with lots of trees and ferns. The second coloring page shows what that time might have looked like!

If you leave the claws whitish, they stand out the most!

The coolest part of this dinosaur is its long claws! After you color the body brown or green, leave the claws white, or color them pale cream. The darker you color around them, the more the claws will pop out. If you make the base of the claws a little darker, they will look hard and strong!

Color the fluffy parts and smooth parts differently

If you look closely, only the back of the neck, shoulders, front leg bases, and tip of the tail are fluffy with feathers. The belly and back legs are smooth. The trick is to color these two parts differently! If you color the feathers dark and the smooth skin light, you can show the difference between fluffy and smooth!

Color the beak a different color from the body

The tip of the mouth is a toothless beak. Try making it gray or yellowish to make it look different from the body. Just like a bird's beak, it is a hard part, so it has a different color from the rest of the body. Making the area around the eyes a little darker will make the face look sharp and cool!

You can choose any body color you like!

Actually, nobody knows what color Therizinosaurus was! Fossils are mostly bones, so we usually cannot tell the real colors. That is why different books show different colors. You can use brown, green, blue, or even stripes! Try making your very own Therizinosaurus!

At First, People Thought It Was a Turtle That Cut Seaweed

The first Therizinosaurus fossils were found in 1948. Back then, scientists only found a few big claw bones. A researcher named Maleev thought, "A big turtle-like creature probably used these claws to cut seaweed." It took a long time to figure out that they were actually dinosaur claws! It shows how hard it is to guess what an animal looked like from just a few parts.

What Did It Use Those Long Claws For?

No one knows for sure what Therizinosaurus used those super long claws for. The most popular idea is that it used them to pull down high branches. Other people think the claws were for defending itself against enemies or showing off to its friends. But since they were so long and thin, they might have broken easily if used in a fight!

There Are Still So Many Mysteries

Believe it or not, a full skeleton of Therizinosaurus has never been found. We have found parts of its front legs, claws, and back legs, but we still haven't found its skull! That means the pictures you see in books are built using clues from its close dinosaur relatives. If new fossils are found, what Therizinosaurus looks like might change!