Baryonyx Claw Cast
This is a cast of the famous first-finger claw that inspired the name Baryonyx walkeri — meaning “heavy claw.” The original fossil is housed at the Palais de la Découverte in Paris.
This is a cast of the famous first-finger claw that inspired the name Baryonyx walkeri — meaning “heavy claw.” The original fossil is housed at the Palais de la Découverte in Paris.
About Baryonyx
Baryonyx was a fish-eating (piscivorous) carnivorous dinosaur discovered in clay pits near Dorking, England, with additional fossils later found in Spain and Portugal.
Living during the Early Cretaceous period, it belonged to the Spinosauridae family — making it a relative of giants like Spinosaurus aegyptiacus and Suchomimus tenerensis.
Unlike most theropods, Baryonyx was highly specialized for catching fish:
Long, crocodile-like snout
Narrow jaws with finely serrated teeth
Hooked claws for snagging prey
Adults reached approximately:
Length: up to 31 feet
Height: 8–9 feet
Weight: 3,700–6,000 lbs
Its jaws contained 96 teeth — nearly twice as many as Tyrannosaurus rex — ideal for gripping slippery prey.
The Famous Claw
The defining feature of Baryonyx was the massive thumb claw on each hand.
Original claw length: ~9.8 inches (straight)
Used for:
Hooking fish from water
Holding prey
Possibly scavenging
This cast measures:
➡️ 10 inches along the curve
Why This Specimen Matters
Baryonyx represents one of the clearest evolutionary links between traditional land-based theropods and semi-aquatic predators.
Its anatomy — including:
angled skull
crocodilian jaw structure
specialized teeth
— shows adaptation to a shoreline hunting lifestyle rarely seen in dinosaurs.
Availability
Comparable casts are often sold elsewhere for over twice our price.
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Baryonyx
Baryonyx, meaning (heavy claw or 'nail) is a genus of carnivorous saurischian dinosaur first discovered in clay pits just south of Dorking, England, and later reported from fossils found in northern Spain and Portugal. It is known to contain only one species, Baryonyx walkeri. Its fossils have been recovered from formations dating from the early Cretaceous. Baryonyx is one of the few known piscivorous (fish-eating) dinosaurs, with specialized adaptations like a long low snout with narrow jaws filled with finely serrated teeth and gaff-hook-like claws to help it hunt its main prey. An adult Baryonyx was about 8-9 feet tall, 31 feet long, and weighed in the region of 3,700-6,000 pounds. Baryonyx had a large claw on the thumb of each hand, which measured about 9.8 inches in a straight line from tip to base. Its long neck was not as strongly S-curved as in many other theropods. The skull was set at an acute angle, not the 90-degree angle common in similar dinosaurs. The long jaws were distinctly crocodilian and had 96 teeth, about twice as many as Tyrannosaurus. Sixty-four of the teeth were placed in the lower jaw (mandible), and 32 large ones in the upper (maxilla). The teeth had slight keels on their leading and posterior sides, with fine serrations (7 per 1 millimeter). There was a knob-like protuberance on the nasal bones. The upper jaw had a sharp angle near the snout, a feature seen in crocodiles that helps to prevent prey from escaping.