the first paleontologists to suggest that Therizinosaurus was actually a theropod dinosaur instead of a turtle. He also suggested that the supposed ribs of the holotype were likely from a different dinosaur, possibly a sauropodomorph. In 1976 Barsbold concluded that Therizinosaurus was a theropod because MPC-D 100/15 matched numerous theropodan characters, and that Therizinosauridae and Deinocheiridae were probably synonyms. With the discovery and description of Segnosaurus, in 1979 Perle named a new family of dinosaurs, the Segnosauridae. He tentatively placed the family within Theropoda given the similarities of the mandible and dentition to other members. A year later, the new genus Erlikosaurus was named by Barsbold and Perle in 1980. They named a new infraorder called the Segnosauria, composed of Erlikosaurus and Segnosaurus. They also noted that while aberrant and having ornithischian-like pelves, segnosaurs featured similar traits to other theropods. With the discovery of the referred hindlimb to Therizinosaurus in 1982 by Perle, he concluded that Segnosaurus was very similar to the latter based on the morphology and they possibly belonged to a single, if not the same, group. In 1983, Barsbold named a new genus of segnosaur, Enigmosaurus. He analyzed the pelvis of the new genus and pointed out that segnosaurids were so different from other theropods that they could be outside the group or represent a different lineage of theropod dinosaurs. Later on the same year, he intensified the exclusion of segnosaurs from being theropods by noting that their pelves resembled those of sauropod dinosaurs. Consequently, the assignment of segnosaurs started to shift towards sauropodomorphs. In 1984, Gregory S. Paul claimed that segnosaurs, rather than being theropods, were indeed sauropodomorphs that successfully managed to remain in the Cretaceous period. He based the idea on anatomical traits such as the skull and similar configuration. He maintained his position in 1988 by placing the Segnosauria into the now obsolete Phytodinosauria, and was one of the first to suggest a segnosaur assignment for the enigmatic Therizinosaurus. Other prominent paleontologists like Jacques Gauthier or Paul Sereno supported this vision. In 1990, Barsbold and Teresa Maryanska agreed in that the hindlimb material from Hermiin Tsav referred to Therizinosaurus in 1982 was segnosaurian since it matched several traits, but considered it unlikely to belong to the genus and species as there was no overlapping material among specimens. Barsbold and Maryanska also disagreed with previous researchers who classified Deinocheirus as a segnosaur. In the same