Embedded Files
Name Meaning: Terrible Hand
Geologic Era: Late Cretaceous
Location Found: Mongolia (our specimen is a cast)
Size: 11 meters long for an adult
Estimated Range: Modern Mongolia
Extinction: 69 million years ago
“Strange” would be an apt description for an animal such as Deinocheirus. When first discovered, only the arms and shoulders were recovered, and these limbs were huge at roughly 8 feet long. This claw is cast from one of the original fossils, which gives a glimpse into the size of this animal.
When first uncovered, Deinocheirus was a bit of a mystery. Ideas about the identity of this animal initially placed it within the carnosaurs (large predatory dinosaurs), but some noticed similarities to ornithomimid arms. When more of this animal was recovered decades later, its appearance became much more clear. Deinocheirus was an ornithomimid, but easily the largest and arguably the strangest in that group of dinosaurs. Looking at the skeletal and life reconstructions of Deinocheirus, one could easily be forgiven for thinking that if a hadrosaur and ornithomimid could mate, Deinocheirus would be the result.
In terms of diet, Deinocheirus was probably something of a generalist, Its long arms could have been used to pull down branches, or for sweeping vegetation from the waterways which were abundant in Deinocheirus’ environment. Like other, smaller ornithomimids, Deinocheirus may also have fed on smaller animals such as fish or aquatic invertebrates. Deinocheirus was not built for speed (unlike many ornithomimids) and so would not be chasing down prey.
In fact, Deinocheirus itself was possible prey for the true apex predator of its location, Tarbosaurus. Gastralia (belly ribs) of Deinocheirus show feeding damage that is consistent with tooth marks from Tarbosaurus. It is unclear if these marks are the result of active predation or scavenging, though the lack of other injuries on the Deinocheirus skeleton would point more toward scavenging. That said, an adult Tarbosaurus would have been more than capable of taking on a Deinocheirus, though the ornithomimid would have been equally capable of inflicting significant damage to a predator with its claws.
Image Credits:
Skeleton: By ケラトプスユウタ – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83833993
Life Reconstruction: PNSO Model-Deinocheirus (personal collection with Canva background)
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse