Page 127 - The Dinosaur Book and Other Wonders of the Prehistoric World (DK-Smithsonian)

Plateosaurus hand claws

Hypsilophodon toe claw
This plant-eater used
its long sharp claw
to dig up roots. Sharp claws

Oviraptor hand claw
Each hand had
three claws for
gathering food.
Scientists think
Oviraptor may have Iguanodon thumb spike
used its hand claw to
hold on to its prey.

Apatosaurus claw
The thumb spike
was used for defense.
The thumb on the pillarlike
front legs ended in a stout
claw and may have been
used for digging.

To keep it sharp, this
The fish-eating large claw was held off
Baryonyx would the ground when running. Deinonychus toe claws
have used its large
curved claw to seize
slippery fish.
The smaller claws
helped Deinonychus
grip the ground.

FORMIDABLE CLAWS

The claws of the plant-eating
Therizinosaurus were about
28 in (71 cm) long—the
longest claws ever known.
The points and edges of
the claws would have been Therizinosaurus claw
sharp enough to inflict 28 in (71 cm)
serious injuries.
0 in 8 in 16 in 24 in 31 in
(0 cm) (20 cm) (40 cm) (60 cm) (80 cm)

have used them to dig holes where they laid their Therizinosaurus
eggs. Plateosaurus stood on its hind legs and had astonishingly long
used its front claws to gather food from trees claws on its forelimbs that
or, more vitally, defend itself from predators. would have been lethal weapons, ideal for
Iguanodon had a stout thumb spike, which defense against some of the most powerful
it may have used against its enemies, while predators that ever existed. 125
125

US_124-125_Sharp_claws.indd 125 10/04/18 3:34 PM