Segnosaurus
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| Segnosaurus Fossil range: Late Cretaceous |
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Segnosaurus ('slow lizard', from Latin segnis meaning 'slow' or 'sluggish' and Greek sauros meaning 'lizard') is a genus of theropod dinosaur belonging to the family Therizinosauridae. The species was described in 1979 by Dr. A. Perle. Three specimens (consisting of a mandible, pelvis, hindlimb, scapulocoracoid, incomplete forelimb and vertebrae) were recovered from the Baynshirenstaya Svita of the Mongolian People's Republic, in sediments dated between the Cenomanian to Turonian stages (Cretaceous Period).
Segnosaurus can be distinguished from other therizinosaurs on the basis of mesial mandibular teeth that are markedly peg-like and only slightly recurved and by the moderate compression of the pedal unguals. The latero-dorsal shelf on the dentary starts at the fourteenth dentary tooth position and runs backwards for half the length of the lower jaw, unlike the shelf in Erlikosaurus, which starts at the fifth tooth position. This would have indicated that Segnosaurus did not have as extensive 'cheeks' as Erlikosaurus is believed to have had.
[edit] In popular culture
Segnosaurus was featured in Robert Bakker's novel Raptor Red. In this novel, it was portrayed as a burrower.
