Admittedly, this thing is less "weird" and more "metal as hell". If you could travel back to Cretaceous Mongolia, you would find that therizinosaurus towered over you at a colossal height of 33 feet. Its arms alone could grow up to 11.5 feet, which is about the size of two adult men, and each one was equipped with some of the most terrifying weaponry the natural world has ever seen. Fossil fragments indicate that each claw clocked in at more than 3 feet in length, making them the largest recorded claws in all natural history. In fact, those claws were larger than its own head. That's got to be pretty inconvenient, especially when you learn that, aside from the odd spot of self-defence, those enormous talons were probably for grabbing vegetation and gathering seaweed rather than gutting T-Rexes for breakfast. Knowing that, it's hard to look at this thing without imagining that scene from Edward Scissorhands where Johnny Depp is trying to eat a roast dinner with his 12 inch shears. Still, there's no denying that therizinosaurus is as cool-looking as it is weird. Herbivore or not, there will undoubtedly have been instances where these guys fought off sexual rivals or ballsy carnivores, which is a fight I would pay good money to see. What a badass. Oh, and its name literally means scythe lizard, which sounds like a Sum 41 album (what a fittingly prehistoric pop culture reference).
Peter Austin initially joined WhatCulture as an occasional contributor to our Film, Gaming and Science sections, but made the mistake of telling us that he'd been making videos in his bedroom for over a decade. Since then he's been a vital member of our YouTube team and routinely sets the standard for smart-casual wear in the office.
