Palaeontology

Spinosaurus hunted its prey from the water

By T.K. Randall
September 12, 2014 ·  6 comments

A reconstruction of a spinosaurus in Germany. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Doc Strangepork The largest known carnivorous dinosaur to ever walk the face of the Earth, Spinosaurus was even bigger than the legendary Tyrannosaurus rex and measured up to 18m in length with a weight of more than 20 tons.

With its long crocodile-like head and paddle-like feet however this prehistoric carnivore is thought to have spent most of its time swimming in rivers and swamps.

"It was the biggest carnivorous dinosaur, but Spinosaurus wasn't a land animal," said palaeontologist Nizar Ibrahim. "This was a creature adapted to life in the water."It is now believed that this giant predatory reptile, which lived 97 million years ago, would have preyed upon other water-based animals such as fish and crocodiles. It also had a huge sail-like structure on its back that would have protruded from the water like the fin of a giant shark.

The findings were based on an analysis of fossils recently unearthed in the Sahara Desert. Spinosaurus was first identified by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer back in 1915 however his original fossils were sadly destroyed during the Second World War.

"All in all, the discoveries by this team show that Spinosaurus is an extremely unusual and specialized carnivorous dinosaur," said dinosaur expert Thomas Holtz.

Source: National Geographic | Comments (6)

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