Segnosaurus

Taxobox
name = "Segnosaurus"
fossil_range = Late Cretaceous

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image_width = 250px
image_caption =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Theropoda
familia = Therizinosauridae
genus = "Segnosaurus"
genus_authority= Perle, 1979
subdivision_ranks=Species
subdivision=
* "S. galbinensis" Perle, 1979 (type)

"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 type species, "S. galinensis", 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.

In popular culture

"Segnosaurus" was featured in Robert Bakker's novel "Raptor Red". In this novel, it was portrayed as a burrower.