Dinosaurs A to Z
Therizinosauridae

Segnosaurus galbinensis

Generic theropod body-plan outline
You 1.8 m (5.9 ft) tall
Segnosaurus 5 m (16.4 ft) long
as long as 3 people standing fingertip to fingertip
generic theropod body plan, scaled to length — not a silhouette of Segnosaurus
Length
5 m (16.4 ft)
Period
Late Cretaceous (90 Mya)
Place
Mongolia · Japan
Food
Herbivore
Clade
Therizinosauridae Dinosauria Saurischia Theropoda Coelurosauria Pot-bellied theropods with giant claws — secondarily plant-eating.

Segnosaurus is a genus of therizinosaurid dinosaur that lived in what is now southeastern Mongolia during the Late Cretaceous, about 102–86 million years ago. Multiple incomplete but well-preserved specimens were discovered in the Gobi Desert in the 1970s, and in 1979 the genus and species Segnosaurus galbinensis were named. The generic name Segnosaurus means “slow lizard” and the specific name galbinensis refers to the Galbin region. The known material of this dinosaur includes the lower jaw, neck and tail vertebrae, the pelvis, shoulder girdle, and limb bones. Parts of the specimens have gone missing or become damaged since they were collected. Remains from Japan originally assigned to Allosaurus were reassigned to Segnosaurus sp. (of unspecified species) in 2025.

What we know

  • Named by Perle, 1979.
  • Fossils found in Mongolia and Japan.

What we guess

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