Falcarius

Name: Falcarius (Sickle cutter).
Phonetic: Fal-ca-ree-us.
Named By: Kirkland - 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria, Saurischia, Theropoda, Coelurosauria, Therizinosauroidea.
Species: F. utahensis (type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: 3.7 - 4 meters long.
Known locations: U.S.A., Utah, Cedar Mountain Formation.
Time period: Barremian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Several individuals.

       Falcarius is a transitory species of therizinosaur that marks the change from meat eating to plant eating behaviour. Falcarius is considered by some to have eaten both making it an omnivore, although the leaf shaped teeth seem to be more suited to a herbivorous diet.

Further reading
- A primitive therizinosauroid dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Utah. - Nature, 435: 84-87. - J. I. Kirkland, L. E. Zanno, S. D. Sampson, J. M. Clark & D. D. DeBlieux - 2005.
- Ontogeny and life history of Falcarius utahensis, a primitive therizinosauroid from the Early Cretaceous of Utah, - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3): 143A. - L. E. Zanno & G. M. Erickson - 2006.
- The pectoral girle and forelimb of the primitive therizinosauroid Falcarius utahensis (Theropoda, Maniraptora): Analyzing evolutionary trends within Therizinosauroidea, - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3): 636-650. - L. E. Zanno - 2006.
- New information on the braincase of the North American Therizinosaurian (Theropoda, Maniraptora) Falcarius utahensis. - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 31(2): 387-404 - David K. Smith, Lindsay E. Zanno, R. Kent Sanders, Donald D. DeBlieux & James I. Kirkland - 2011.

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