Therizinosaurus Egg Clutch, 70 to 120 Million Years Old

Eastern Asia , Late Cretaceous Period, 70 to 120 million years ago. A large clutch of eggs from a 70 to 120 million year old nest belonging to a therizinosaurus! Such dinosaur egg finds are quite rare. Although a female would guard her eggs very closely until her baby dinosaurs hatched, all too often a predator would find a clutch at an opportune moment when unguarded, and destroy the eggs to consume the baby dinos. For this reason, finding wholly intact eggs is exceedingly rare. What's more, in order to be preserved in this state, the eggs were likely covered with sediment and lost to their mother via a flood, mudslide, sandstorm, or some other natural disaster. Size: 8.5" L x 18" W x 4.625" H (21.6 cm x 45.7 cm x 11.7 cm)

This nest belonged to a therizinosaurus, a dinosaur that paleontologists believe stood an impressive 25 feet tall when upright on two legs. The incredibly long arms of the therizinosaurus are believed to have reached 8 feet, and resolved in enormous three-pronged claws. In fact, the therizinosaurus gets its name from its claws, as the name is Greek for scythe—hence, the therizinousaurus' name literally means "Scythe Lizard." It took scientists many years to understand where they belonged in the greater dinosaur family, precisely because of their unusual features. They eventually concluded that the therizinosaurus belongs to the theropod dinosaur group called maniraptors, a group that also includes birds. All of the members in this group possess long arms, and the therizinosaurs' hands brandished the largest claws of the animal kingdom. Given their relatively small heads as well as the shape of their teeth, scientists believe that therizinosaurs abandoned the meat-eating practice of their theropod ancestors and ate plants instead. It is thought that the therizinosaurus weighed about 6 tonnes (6.6 tons) - as weighty as a T-rex!

Provenance: ex-A Coin Exchange, Tarzana, California, USA

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#147298
Condition Report: Lower half of the eggs preserved in the matrix which was cut away, hence the jagged tool marks to the peripheries of the matrix. Most of the eggs are in relatively good condition save old losses to surfaces as shown and stabilized fissures with areas of staining from adhesive. Red hue is from iron rich soil. Overall quite remarkable and very rare.