Deinocheirus

terrible hand

• deinos · Greek · terrible, fearful
• cheir · Greek · hand

The name refers to the enormous forelimbs (arms) found in 1965, which were the only remains known for decades. Each arm is about 2.4 metres long and bears huge clawed hands, so the discoverers called it the "terrible hand". Complete skeletons described in 2014 showed it was a giant, toothless, long-snouted ornithomimosaur with a back sail and a duck-like bill.

Named by

Osmólska and Roniewicz

Year named

1970

Period

Late Cretaceous

Stages

Campanian – Maastrichtian

Found in

Nemegt Formation, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

A valid genus of giant ornithomimosaur theropod dinosaur. The type species is Deinocheirus mirificus ("unusual/wonderful"). Its Nemegt Formation age is generally given as late Campanian to early Maastrichtian.