page_title: Timeline of therizinosaur research
section_title: 20th century
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of therizinosaur research / 20th century
caption_attribution_description: Photo: cast of a Therizinosaurus cheloniformis claw at the Australian Museum, Sydney.
context_page_description: The timeline of therizinosaur research is a chronological listing of events in the history of paleontology focused on therizinosaurs. They were unusually long-necked, pot-bellied, and large-clawed herbivorous theropods most closely related to birds. The early history of therizinosaur research occurred in three phases. The first phase was the discovery of scanty and puzzling fossils in Asia by the Central Asiatic Expeditions of the 1920s and Soviet-backed research in the 1950s. This phase resulted in the discovery of the Therizinosaurus cheloniformis type specimen. Soviet paleontologist Evgeny Maleev interpreted these unusual remains as belonging to some kind of gigantic turtle.
  The second major phase of therizinosaur research followed the discovery of better preserved remains in the 1970s by collaborative research between the Soviets and Mongolians. These finds revealed the true nature of therizinosaurs as bizarre dinosaurs. However, the exact nature and classification of therizinosaurs within Dinosauria was controversial as was their paleobiology.
caption: Holotype claw cast of Therizinosaurus
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