NOTHRONYCHUS GRAFFAMI - INFO
TIME
Late Cretaceous, Turonian
LOCATION
Haystack Butte site, Zuni basin, New Mexico, USA
Measurements for this skeletal reconstruction:
Body
Maximum length (along central):
~520 cm (5.2 m)
Maximum length (along the curves of silhouette):
~530 cm (5.3 m)
HEIGHT
Hip:
~200 cm (2.0 m)
Floor -> top of head:
~400 cm (4.0 m)
ABOUT NOTHRONYCHUS:
Nothronychus was a unique, herbivorous theropod dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period, during the Turonian (~91 mya). Belonging to the therizinosaur family, it stood out with its long, curved claws, a small head with leaf-shaped teeth, and a pot-bellied body adapted for a plant-based diet.
References
Skull:
Lautenschlager, S., Witmer, L.M., Altangerel, P., Zanno, L.E. and Rayfield, E.J., 2014. Cranial anatomy of Erlikosaurus andrewsi (Dinosauria, Therizinosauria): new insights based on digital reconstruction. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 34(6), pp.1263-1291.
Zanno, L.E., Tsogtbaatar, K., Chinzorig, T. and Gates, T.A., 2016. Specializations of the mandibular anatomy and dentition of Segnosaurus galbinensis (Theropoda: Therizinosauria). PeerJ, 4, p.e1885.
Postcrania
Barsbold, R. and Perle, A., 1980. Segnosauria, a new infraorder of carnivorous dinosaurs. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 25(2).
Dong, Z., Nanxiong, G.P. and Downs, T.B.W., 1979. Dinosaurs from the Cretaceous of south China. In Mesozoic and Cenozoic red beds of south China: selected papers from the Cretaceous–Tertiary Workshop, Nanxiong, Guangdong Province. Edited by Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. Science Press, Beijing, China (pp. 342-350).
Hedrick, B.P., Zanno, L.E., Wolfe, D.G. and Dodson, P., 2015. The slothful claw: osteology and taphonomy of Nothronychus mckinleyi and N. graffami (Dinosauria: Theropoda) and anatomical considerations for derived therizinosaurids. PloS one, 10(6), p.e0129449.
Li, D.Q., You, H.L. and Zhang, J.P., 2008. A new specimen of Suzhousaurus megatherioides (Dinosauria: Therizinosauroidea) from the Early Cretaceous of northwestern China. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 45(7), pp.769-779.
Liao, C.C., Zanno, L.E., Wang, S. and Xu, X., 2021. Postcranial osteology of Beipiaosaurus inexpectus (Theropoda: Therizinosauria). PLoS One, 16(9), p.e0257913.
Smith, D.K. and Gillette, D.D., 2025. Osteology of the derived therizinosaur Nothronychus with evidence for convergence in dinosaurian evolution. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 203(1), p.zlad148.
