Dinosaurs came in all shapes and sizes. Some of the weirdest dinosaurs evolved to fill unusual niches.
It makes sense, since dinosaurs lived for hundreds of millions of years. This gave them lots of time to change and adapt.
And that led to some wonderfully strange ones.
Here are five of the weirdest dinosaurs.
1. Carnotaurus

Full name: Carnotaurus sastrei
Genus name means: “Meat eating bull”
Estimated size: 26–30 ft (8–9 m) long
Estimated weight: 1.3–2.1 tons
Habitat: Seasonal climate with dry and humid periods
What it ate: Meat
Where it’s been found: Argentina (La Colonia Formation)
Carnotaurus was one of the weirdest dinosaurs, with its thick horns above the eyes and very short arms. In fact, its forearms were only about 1/4 the size of its upper arms. The horns may have been used for fighting, display, or killing prey.
Learn more about Carnotaurus in episode 85 of our podcast.
2. Deinocheirus

Full name: Deinocheirus mirificus
Genus name means: “Horrible hand”
Estimated size: 36 ft (11 m) long
Estimated weight: 6.4 tons
Habitat: Humid climate with rivers (and some droughts)
What it ate: Plants
Where it’s been found: Mongolia (Nemegt Formation)
For 50 years, all we knew about Deinocheirus is that it had large, 8 ft (2.4 m) long arms with 8 in (20 cm) long claws (and we thought it was a terrifying, carnivorous dinosaur). Then, paleontologists discovered just how weird this herbivorous dinosaur was, with hoof-like claws on its feet, hadrosaur-like duckbill, camel-like hump, and bulky tyrannosaur-like legs.
Learn more about Deinocheirus in episode 10 of our podcast.
3. Therizinosaurus

Full name: Therizinosaurus cheloniformis
Genus name means: “Scythe lizard”
Estimated size: 30–33 ft (9–10 m) long
Estimated weight: Over 3 tons
Habitat: Temperate climate with rivers and canopy-like forests
What it ate: Plants
Where it’s been found: Mongolia (Nemegt Formation)
Therizinosaurus was a theropod (a clade that includes T. rex), that probably had long arms and definitely had long claws. But, this dinosaur ate plants, and even had a wide body to better digest them.
Learn more about Therizinosaurus in episode 48 of our podcast.
4. Linhenykus

Full name: Linhenykus monodactylus
Genus name means: “Linhe claw”
Estimated weight: 1 lb (450 g)
Habitat: Semi-arid climate
What it ate: Insects(?)
Where it’s been found: China (Wulansuhai Formation)
Linhenykus had short arms with only one finger on each hand. It’s possible Linhenykus used its claws for digging around ant and termite nests.
Learn more about Linhenykus in episode 351 of our podcast.
5. Bajadasaurus

Full name: Bajadasaurus pronuspinax
Genus name means: “Downhill lizard”
Estimated size: 33–43 ft (10–13 m) long
Habitat: An area with river channels
What it ate: Plants
Where it’s been found: Argentina (Bajada Colorada Formation)
Bajadasaurus was a sauropod with long spines on its back that curved forward. The spines curve so far forward that the spines on its 5th vertebrae would have almost reached as far forward as the head.
Learn more about Bajadasaurus in episode 220 of our podcast.