Deinocheirus deyenoʊ-KEYERUHS

"horrible"

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Deinocheirus 11 m (36 ft) long
as long as 7 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Deinocheirus
Length
11 m (36 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (100–66 Mya)
Place
Mongolia
Food
Omnivore
Clade
Deinocheiridae
Deinocheirus reconstruction by PaleoNeolitic
Reconstruction · PaleoNeolitic (CC-BY)

Deinocheirus ( ) is a genus of large ornithomimosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous around 70 million years ago. In 1965, a pair of large arms, shoulder girdles, and a few other bones of a new dinosaur were first discovered in the Nemegt Formation of Mongolia. In 1970, this specimen became the holotype of the only species within the genus, Deinocheirus mirificus; the genus name is Greek for “horrible hand”. No further remains were discovered for almost fifty years, and its nature remained a mystery. Two more complete specimens were described in 2014, which shed light on many aspects of the animal. Parts of these new specimens had been looted from Mongolia some years before, but were repatriated in 2014.

Deinocheirus was an unusual ornithomimosaur, the largest of the clade at 11 m long, and weighing 6.5 t. Though it was a bulky animal, it had many hollow bones which saved weight.

What we know

  • Named by Osmólska & Roniewicz, 1970.
  • Body length estimated at about 11 m.
  • Fossils found in Mongolia.

What we guess

The reconstruction notes for Deinocheirus — soft tissue, color, behavior — haven't been written up yet. Only the recorded basics above are filled in so far.