foot there were three weight-bearing toes. The first toe did not reach the ground nor did the first metatarsal touch the ankle. Classification The describers in 2005 assigned Falcarius to the Therizinosauroidea sensu of Zhang, in a basal position. Zanno later placed it as the basalmost taxon in the Therizinosauria, just outside of Therizinosauroidea sensu of Sereno. Because of the primitive position and relative completeness of Falcarius, it is a good taxon to use to compare to related groups and descendant taxa. Falcarius resembles dinosaurs belonging to the Therizinosauridae, part of the group Maniraptora. Falcarius itself probably does not belong to this former group, although it does belong to the more inclusive group Therizinosauria. The group is characterized by wider hips, a comparatively large braincase and long necks typical of plant eaters. The less basal Asian specimens were covered in quill-like feathers; this is assumed for Falcarius as well. In general Falcarius can be seen as a transitional form between the original theropod build and the more derived Therizinosauridae. Falcarius shared some derived traits with the therizinosaurids: it had a long neck, small head with teeth adapted for eating plant material, a more robust arm with large hand-claws and a more vertical position of the body. On the other hand, it resembled more typical theropods in having a long tail, a propubic pelvis, a long lower leg and a foot without a fourth toe reaching the ground. The cladogram below shows the results of a phylogenetic analysis of Therizinosauria performed by Yoshitsugu Kobayashi and team in 2022, based on their description of Paralitherizinosaurus. Falcarius is recovered as the basalmost therizinosaurian taxon: See also Timeline of therizinosaur research References External links BBC Therizinosauroidea - UCMP, Berkeley Early Cretaceous dinosaurs of North America Fossil taxa described in 2005 Therizinosaurs Transitional fossils Taxa named by James I. Kirkland Taxa named by James M. Clark Taxa named by Scott D. Sampson Paleontology in Utah Taxa named by Lindsay Zanno