Page 51 - Dinosaur (DK Eyewitness Books)

SUPER SCYTHES
Therizinosaurus‘s fingers ended in enormous Long finger claw
scythelike claws. Only the bony cores of the claws
can be seen here, but a horny sheath covered each
Sharp tip claw and at least one claw was longer than a man’s
arm. No other known dinosaur had longer claws.
Ferocious as they seem, Therizinosaurus most likely
used its claws to rake leafy branches to its mouth.

Bony core
of Apatosaurus
thumb claw
Gentle curve

THUMBS UP
Each thumb on the pillarlike forefeet of
the sauropod Apatosaurus bore a stout,
curved claw. The bony core alone could
measure 17 in (43 cm) in length, but the
claw was even longer when covered by
its horny sheath. How Apatosaurus used
this claw is a mystery. If threatened by
an allosaurid, perhaps the sauropod
reared up on its hind limbs and struck
out with both forefeet.
Groove for
horny sheath

LITTLE HOOVES
Triceratops‘s weight-bearing fingers and toes bore little
hooves, each shaped like that of a horse. Three of the
five fingers of each hand and all the toes ended in a
broad, flat hoof bone with a horny covering. Hooves
protected toes from wear and the hoof bones helped
support this horned dinosaur’s heavy body as it walked.
Triceratops’s blunt hooves had evolved from the pointed
claws of its small, two-legged
ancestors. Claws may have
helped those dinosaurs
to defend themselves.

Triceratops Triceratops
hoof bone

Deinonychus
skeleton

Clawed finger
CLAWS IN ACTION
Deinonychus (“terrible claw”) would hurl itself
at its victims, striking out with its finger claws Third toe
to attack ornithopods larger than itself. This Tibia
Baryonyx dromaeosaurid’s most dangerous weapon, (shin
thumb- or however, was the raised, sickle-shaped claw on bone)
finger-claw
the second toe of each foot. Deinonychus could
probably sink its finger claws into a large ornithopod’s
hide, balance on one foot, and deliver slashing kicks that Fourth toe
ripped its victim’s belly open. Early in the Cretaceous
Period, this agile, birdlike theropod must have been
one of the most dangerous dinosaurs in North America. Big, sharp, swiveling
claw on second toe

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