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Spinosaurus
Temporal range: Early–Late Cretaceous
Spinosaurus by HypotheticalGabe
Hypothethical Gabe's rendering of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus .
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Clade: Dinosauria
Order: Saurischia
Suborder: Theropoda
Family: Spinosauridae
Subfamily: Spinosaurinae
Tribe: †Spinosaurini
Genus: Spinosaurus
Stromer et al., 1915
Type species
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus
Stromer, 1915
Synonyms
  • ?Sigilmassasaurus brevicollis Russell, 1996
  • ?Spinosaurus maroccanus Russell, 1996
  • ?Oxalaia quilombensis Kellner et al., 2011

Spinosaurus (meaning "spined lizard") is an extinct genus of large spinosaurid theropod dinosaur that inhabited early to middle Cretaceous (Cenomanian); albeit there are significant discoveries that state the theropod could lived as long as Early Campanian of Late Creteceous[1], Northern Africa, states such as Morocco, Egypt, Tunusia, Libya; approximately 99 to 93.5 (although the theropod could survived as much as around 80 million years)[1] million years ago.

The type and only genus is S. aegyptiacus (meaning "spined lizard from Egypt"), though there is a possible specimen from Morocco that could prove another species, being S. maroccanus.

The first known remains were found in Egypt by the German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1912, then described and named in 1915. The original holotype remains were destroyed in World War II in a bombing raid, in 1944 by the British RAF.

Fortunately, additional material from other individuals have been found and come to light in the 21st century, though lots of jaw pieces and other material are sold and kept in private collections, lost to science.

The contemporary spinosaurid genus Sigilmassasaurus has been synonymized by some authors with S. aegyptiacus, and more recently others proposed it to be a distinct taxon yet again with a new mid-cervical vertebra. However, recent scientific publication does not synonymize Sigilmassasaurus with Spinosaurus.[2]

Paleontologists David W.E. and Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. conclude that Spinosaurus was more akin to a generalist wading animal species instead of highly specialized aquatic species in a recent paper. The interpretations arise from inconsistencies with the pursuit predator model by Ibraham et.al.[3][4][5] Their findings and conclusions are further supported and solidified by additonal research and publications.[6][7][8][9]

Screenshot 20240309-201719 Chrome

Source: Spinosaurus Didn’t Swim After Its Supper, Study Claims

Spinosaurus were amongst the largest known of all carnivorous dinosaur theropods, recent estimates put the length at 13.6 - 14.7 - 15 meters and analyzed a mass of 7.3 to 8.5 tonnes (for the larger specimens); this puts Spinosaurus in the current top 6 most massive theropods.

History[]

The first remains have been officially discovered in Egypt in 1912 and named by paleontologist Ernst Stromer, in April 24th, 1994 however, the original remains were destroyed in World War II. The name; Spinosaurus means, spine lizard in Latin. It gets its name from the sail on its Dorsal vertebrae.[10][11]

Discovery and naming[]

Naming of species[]

Potentially two species of the Spinosaurus genus have been named: Spinosaurus aegyptiacus (meaning "Egyptian spined lizard") and the disputed Spinosaurus maroccanus (meaning "Moroccan spine lizard").[12][13]

Description[]

Size[]

The current size estimations for Spinosaurus suggest a length estimation between 13 to 14.7 meters long, 2 to 2.5 meters tall (hip height) and weighed between 7 to 8.5 tonnes. Those large estimates apply for the more fragmentary cranial, vertebrae specimens. They potentially have a margin of error due to potential individual variation and unknown changes in morphology.[ Citation Needed ]

  • Size estimates for properly assigned specimens of S. aegyptiacus fall under the 10-11 meters and 3 to 4 tonne range both being come from indeterminate growth stages. To be more specific their growth range being more vague; for example FSAC-KK-11888 being referred as an subadult meanwhile BSP 1912 VIII 19 representing an unidentified and unclarified growth stage due lack of indepth reserch before its destruction at WWII [ Citation Needed ]

The current, estimated length of Spinosaurus makes it a contender for the longest carnivorous theropods known, in 1926 Friedrich von Huene and Donald F. Glut in 1982 listed it as among the most massive theropods in their surveys, thought to be 15 meters (49 feet) long and weigh 6.6 short tons.[14] in 1988 Greg Paul also listed it as longest theropod at 15 meters (49 feet), but however gave it a lower mass estimate of 4.4 short tons.[15]

Spinosauridmap.

Spinosaurus and other Spinosauridae fossil locations by PaleoGeek

17 years later in 2005, Dal Sasso and colleagues assumed that Spinosaurus had the same body proportions as Suchomimus and therefore calculated that Spinosaurus was 52 to 59 feet (16 to 18 meters) long and a weight of 7.7 to 9.9 short tons.[16]

But these estimates were criticized because the skull length estimate was uncertain, and (assuming that body mass increases as the cube of body length) scaling Suchomimus which was 11 meters (36 ft) long and 4.2 short tons in mass to the range of estimated lengths of Spinosaurus would produce an estimated body mass of 12.9 to 18.4 short tons.

François Therrien and Donald Henderson, in a 2007 paper used scaling based on skull length, challenged the previous size estimates of Spinosaurus finding the length too great and the weight too small. They instead calculated a body length of 12.6 to 14.3 meters (41 to 47 feet) and a body mass of 13.2 to 23 short tons.[17]

The lower estimates for Spinosaurus would imply that the animal could potentially be shorter and lighter than some other large theropods like Carcharodontosaurus. Yet there were criticisms for the choice of theropods to compare with and the assumption the skull could be as little as 1.5 meters (4.9 ft) in length.[18]

Currently, the weight estimations of Spinosaurus range in between 6 and 8.5 tons.[19] Although depending on individual paleontologist's attributions and calculations towarda to the overall weight for this Theropod go as far as 9+ tons![20][21][22][23]

Classification[]

Spinosaurus gives its name to the dinosaur family Spinosauridae, which includes two subfamilies: Baryonychinae and Spinosaurinae.[24][25]

Paleobiology[]

Locomotion[]

A 2024 article co-authored by Sereno stated that the previous calculations by Sereno that were used to argue quadrupedality for Spinosaurus had erroneously shifted the center of mass in front of the hips.

They instead suggested that the dinosaur fit the criteria of being a graviportal (or slow-moving) biped. Thus rendering earlier quadrupedal or semi-quadruped theories ever more invalidated.[26][27]

Aquatic habits[]

The debate whether that the Spinosaurus was entirely aquatic, terrestrial or amphibious, switched between both habitats is to this day an active subject of debate.

The first thesis about the Spinosaurus, debuts that this theropod was likely a semi aquatic animal. This conclusion has been established by the 2014 fossil discoveries that gave Spinosaurus highly differentiated anatomical features [28], this conclusion has been bolstered by recent discovery as a highly elongated and dense tail, that might, potentially; helped animal to swim against the current of the Rivers. Studies of the tail, specimens recovered and analyzed by Ibrahim, Pierce, Lauder, and Sereno, in 2018 indicate that Spinosaurus had a keeled tail that was well adapted to propelling the animal through water.[29]

Spinosaurusrandom

Spinosaurus reconstruction by randomdinos

The second consensus that Spinosaurus was likely a terrestrial theropod arises from conducted research that refutes the semi-aquatic thesis for Spinosaurus, such as; a 2018 research, done by paleontologist Donald Henderson, the research has studying the buoyancy in lungs of crocodilians and comparing it to the lung placement in Spinosaurus, it was discovered that Spinosaurus could not sink or dive below the water surface. It was also capable of keeping its entire head above the water surface while floating, much like other non-aquatic theropods. Furthermore, the study found that Spinosaurus had to continually paddle its hind legs to prevent itself from tipping over onto its side, something that no known extant semi-aquatic animal species do not need to perform. The research conducted that Spinosaurus probably did not hunt completely submerged in water as previously hypothesized, but instead would have spent majority of its life on land or around water [30][31][32] however; these studies of the tail vertebrae of Spinosaurus refute Henderson's proposal that Spinosaurus mainly inhabited areas of land near and in shallow water and was too buoyant to submerge.

Spinosaurus by cisiopurple decucm2-fullview

Cisiopurple's reconstruction based off Scott Hartman's 2020 skeletal

The elongated neural spines, which run to the end of the tail on both dorsal and ventral sides, indicate that Spinosaurus was able to swim in a similar manner to modern crocodilians. Through experimentation by Lauder and Pierce, the tail of Spinosaurus was found to have eight times as much forward thrust as the tails of terrestrial theropods like Coelophysis and Allosaurus, as well as being twice as efficient at achieving forward thrust. This discovery indicates that Spinosaurus may have had a lifestyle comparable to modern alligators and crocodiles, that this animal might have capable of remaining in water for long periods of time while hunting. [33] A more recent research concluded in 2022, by Ibrahim et al used bone density in a wealth of theropods to determine that Spinosaurus had bones about as dense as modern avians such as the penguins. In penguins, this specific structure is used to optimize buoyancy while diving. They entered it and other spinosaurs into a comprehensive dataset including crocodilians, ceteaceans, mosasaurs, sauropterygians (including ichthyosaurs), pinnipeds, placodontians, birds and pterosaurs but excluding Oxalaia and Sigilmassasaurus based on presumed synonymy. They found that it and possibly Baryonyx fall firmly into diver morphology and bear evidence of subaqueous feeding, where the latter was likely ancestral to Spinosauridae and likely secondarily lost in Suchomimus. The study was received well by others, although some paleontologists; like Donald M. Handerson remains skeptical about its conclusion.[34][35][36][37]

Additionally; there is also the research conducted at 2010, the scientists directly looked to the oxygen isotope ratios of spinosaurid bones, by comparing Isotope ratios from teeth from Baryonyx, Irritator, Siamosaurus, and Spinosaurus were compared with isotopic compositions from contemporaneous theropods, turtles, and crocodilians. The study found that, among theropods, spinosaurid isotope ratios were closer to those of turtles and crocodilians. However; Siamosaurus specimens tended to have the largest difference from the ratios of other theropods. Spinosaurus tended to have the least difference, this strongly suggests that the different species of Spinosaurids have had differentiated preferences for their habitats. Spinosaurus specimens show similar isotope ratios to other terrestrial theropods. This meant different species of spinosaurids have had differentiated habitat preferences. [38][39][40]

Spinosaurusmap

Spinosaurus and Spinosaurinae distribution from the Dinosaur Database

Although there are a number of counter thesis against the extended tail spines usage for propulsion, and in water; as well.[41][42]

A study and analysis conducted in 2021; indicated that the degree of aquatic habitation speculations attributed to Spinosaurus is not consistent, or valid, as well as the features attributed to this theropod indicate a more terrestrial lifestyle akin to wading avians such as the skua, pelicans, shoebills, giant petrels, storks or herons; instead of hyper specialized aquatic to semi aquatic species like dolphins and gharials. [43][44][45][46][47][48][49]

A study conducted in 2022 is criticized by Donald M. Handerson, as quoted: “I don’t doubt that Spinosaurus has very dense bones … [but] is it adding enough mass to help the animals sink?” asks Don Henderson, a paleontologist at Canada’s Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology whose 2018 study of Spinosaurus suggested that the animal would have been very buoyant.

“If you watch penguins swimming, as soon as they stop flapping their wings, they start to bob up to the surface,” Henderson says. “I just cannot see how Spinosaurus can stay underwater without extreme effort.”

Not every animal with dense bones lives an aquatic or even partially aquatic lifestyle. Elephants and extinct sauropod dinosaurs, for example, have dense limb bones to support their large weights. However, these weight-bearing “graviportal” bone structures visibly differ from the “osteosclerotic” ones that penguins and other diving creatures have. Highly dense bones can give animals a unique edge when it comes to staying in the water for extended periods without eliminating their ability to navigate dry terrain.

“While a penguin or a crocodile are capable of swimming and diving underwater, they are also able to walk on land,” Fabbri says. Though Spinosaurus and Baryonyx would have had an easier time hanging out in water than other dinosaurs, they also must have come up onto land from time to time. The first known fossil of Baryonyx contains fish scales as well as the bones of a juvenile plant-eating dinosaur—perhaps a sign of the predator’s opportunism both on land and in the water.

Spinosaurid expert Tom Holtz, a paleontologist at the University of Maryland who wasn't involved with the study, says that the new data could have implications far beyond Spinosaurus and Baryonyx.[50]

The 2022 publication, in addition to Mr. Handerson is also criticized by Dr. David Hone; he said that the paper is: '' Apropos of absolutely nothing, Hone & Holtz (2021) "Standing in deeper water or even partially submerged (benefitting from reduced pneumaticity and pachyostotic bone) would allow them to forage for benthic prey". He also added; none of the points their publication and research has raised are mentioned and several claims we rebutted or even tested with data are repeated.[51][52]

Dave Hone also made a through analysis and documentary upload where here discusses about the Spinosaurids being more comparable to modern wading avians, instead of semi aquatic animals like crocodilians or hippos. He also cited that the Spinosaurus had an extremely anti-hydrodynamic body structure, where he commented on the fact that animal's nostrils are placed akin to more terrestrial animals, the structure of the sail being highly handicapping for swimming as wall as the tail's shape reminiscent of animals such as basilisk lizards and sailfin lizards and the tail's structure being ill fated for swimming.[53]

They have also published a paper referred to as: Spinosaurids as ‘subaqueous foragers’ undermined by selective sampling and problematic statistical inference. They have explained that the 2022 publication's inference and interpretation of subaqueous foraging among spinosaurids is undermined by selective bone sampling, inadequate statistical procedures, and use of inaccurate ecological categorizations.[54] The publication received positive comeback.[55]

The author of the 2022 publication has also aired an official paper in response.[56] The Earlier paper's publisher responsed as: '' We could really use some kind of comprehensive synthesis paper looking at all the lines of evidence and with clear definitions of terms and what exactly is being proposed. That should help clear things up.''[57]

Further adding to the Hone & Holtz, Mr. Handerson's argument; there is another study conducted by Nathan P. Myhrvold, Paul C. Sereno & co. that goes in depth to the theory and the sample analysis published by Nizar et. al. and explains The noticeable errors of using bone compactness and the pFDA for enunciating an entire lifestyle for a clade of Theropods, the Spinosaurids in general.[58]

Chapter 1 of Article

Chapter 1 of the Article. Source: Spinosaurus Didn’t Swim After Its Supper, Study Claims

Additional research comes with direct correlation with earlier researches findings about sampling and isotope inconsistencies as well as direct bias. [59][9]

The publication made by Stephanie Baumgart et. al. and her team.

They found out found that the attributed evidence isn't strong enough for Spinosaurus swimming submerged underwater. Spinosaurus more likely mostly hangs out on the shore.

Chapter 2 of the article

Chapter 2 of the Article. Source: Spinosaurus Didn’t Swim After Its Supper, Study Claims

Consistent with wading lifestyle. Their team wanted to add spinosaur specimens to the dataset, to see how a wider range of specimens impact the 2022 results. We focused on bone compactness (Cg) of a cross-sectional slice of bone, the ratio of bone area in the slice to the total area of the slice.

If they would have used the CT data, bone presence/absence is marked by how radiodense the bone material is. Black in a scan is low density material like air. White is the densest thing in the view, like the densest part of the bone. But lots of variation in density. The co-authors and I wanted to get a bone compactness (Cg) value of this Spinosaurus bone from CMN, so I sat down with the scan.[60]

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 of the Article. Source: Spinosaurus Didn’t Swim After Its Supper, Study Claims

The trouble was, the author wasn't sure where to set the overall threshold. They came up with 3 options, all of which looked reasonable, but had a huge range in Cg; and then, how much variation is there going to be within an individual? Within species? Between species?

They looked at Suchomimus and Spinosaurus leg bones and found quite the range. Which is most representative? Too much variation.[61]

Ultimately, given amount of immense variation in the specimens and in data collection techniques, their team concluded that previously attributed evidence isn’t strong enough to put Spinosaurus swimming and diving entirely submerged.  Spinosaurus still more than likely mostly hung out on shore.[59][26]

Pone.0147031

Spinosauridae; Carcharodontosauridae and Abelisaueidae habitat preferences. Study credits: The “χ” of the Matter: Testing the Relationship between Paleoenvironments and Three Theropod Clades

Dave Hone et. al. additionally pointed out as; there are loads of little things that don't match up well with the idea of it swimming well (and some big ones) and lots of little things that better fit the wading hypothesis and this is one of them.[62]

  • Additionally isotopes being rationed and researched; as earlier with the original isotope study; that they found out that it's a key thing that the pro-swimming side keep ignoring. While most of the signatures do point to croc / turtle etc. lifestyles, some have a fully terrestrial one that's inseparable from other regular genuses and species of theropods. So some specimens were literally spending months at a time on land (estimated tooth turn over of at least 60 days) with a terrestrial food source.[63][64][65]

Diet and Feeding[]

Its unclear that the Spinosaurus was whether a highly specialized piscivore (obligate fish eater) or a generalist carnivore. All known evidence for Spinosaurus dietary preferences, directly comes from the relative spinosauridae species, for example: Baryonyx had shown clear indication for generalist behavior, as one specimen's fossilized rib cage has been found to contain prehistoric species of fish, as well as the remains of a sub-adult Iguanodont, the iberian Baryonyx specimens have also found with direct association to Iguanodonts[66]; more examples include another spinosaurid, a more closer relative to Spinosaurus, the Irritator has been found, that either attacked, or ate a large pterosaur [67] and has been suspected to be a dominant predatory theropod of its environment. [68]

Additionally, there has been the discovery of another spinosaurid, a south Asian spinosaurinae known as Siamosaurus, has been directly consumed sauropods, it's uncertain that if this event was a scavenging situation or a true hunting.[69]

Spinosaurus-dinosaur-skull-3d-printing-223634

Spinosaurus Skull analysis

Dal Sasso and colleagues in 2009 reported results of X-ray computed tomography of the MSNM V4047 snout. As the foramina on the outside all communicated with a space on the inside of the snout, the authors had speculated that Spinosaurus had pressure receptors inside its snout used at the surface of the water to detect swimming prey species without seeing them, similar to how modern crocodilians with the same attributes catch fish.

Although this theory remains somewhat speculative with no further confirmation from any other publications.

A study in 2013 by Andrew R. Cuff and Emily J. Rayfield did concluded that bio-mechanical data suggests that Spinosaurus was not an obligate piscivore and that its diet was more closely associated with each individual's size. The characteristic rostral morphology of Spinosaurus allowed its jaws to resist bending in the vertical direction, but its jaws were poorly adapted with respect to resisting lateral bending compared to other members of this group Baryonychidae like Baryonyx and modern alligators, thus theorizing Spinosaurus could probably prey more regularly on aquatic prey than it did on terrestrial animals, although it is indeed considered predators of the former, too.

Based on the direct paleontological fossil discoveries that Spinosaurus could be a generalist predator that hunted variety of prey item, like aquatic animals such as massive, multi-ton fish species; such as Mawsonia and Onchopristis, the inhabitant crocodylimorphs, as well as the terrestrial animals, such as larger pterosaurs, such as Alanqa, Anhanguera as well as, small to medium-sized dinosaurs, such as Ouranosaurus.

Carchspinos

Up-to-date Spinosaurus & Carcharodontosaurus using silhouettes by randomdinos

It is also possible that the Spinosaurus could be an additional scavenger, as well as a predator; similiar to most known modern carnivores.[70]

Function of sail[]

It is uncertain of the function of this dinosaur's sail or hump, scientists have proposed several hypotheses including display, and heat regulation. The prominent feature the sail was could've made the animal seem even larger than it was, intimidating other animals.[71]

The structure may have been used for thermoregulation, if the structure contained abundant blood vessels, the animal could have used the sail's large surface area to absorb heat, but this would imply that the animal was only partly warm-blooded at best and lived in climates where night-time temperatures were cool or low and the sky usually not cloudy. It is also quite possible that it could've used it's sail to radiate excess heat from the body, rather than to collect it. Large animals, due to the relatively small ratio of surface area of their body compared to the overall volume (Haldane's principle), face far greater problems of dissipating excess heat at higher temperatures, than gaining it at lower. The sails of large dinosaurs added considerably to the skin area of their bodies, but with very minimum increase of volume. In addition, if the sail was turned away from the sun, or positioned at about a 90-degree angle towards a cooling wind, the animal would quite effectively cool itself in the warm climate of Cretaceous Africa.[71]

Nevertheless, Bailey (1997) was of the opinion that a sail could have absorbed more heat than it would have radiated. And Bailey proposed instead that Spinosaurus and other dinosaurs with long neural spines had fatty humps on their backs for energy insulation, storage, and shielding from heat. It is possible that the sail of Spinosaurus was used for courtship, in a way similar to a peacock's tail. Stromer speculated that the size of the neural spines may have differed between males and females.[72]

Gimsa and colleagues (2015) proposed that the dorsal sail of Spinosaurus would be analogous to the dorsal fins of sailfish and served a hydrodynamic purpose. Gimsa and others pointed out that the more basal spinosaurids with longer legs round or crescent-shaped dorsal sails, whereas in Spinosaurus, the dorsal neural spines form a shape that was roughly rectangular, similar in shape to the dorsal fins of sailfish. They thus argue that Spinosaurus used its dorsal neural sail in the same manner as sailfish, and that it also employed its long, narrow tail to stun prey like a modern thresher shark. The sail might have possibly reduced yaw rotation by counteracting the lateral force in the direction opposite to the slash as suggested by Gimsa and colleagues (2015).[73]

However recent research has determined that the Sail of Spinosaurus creates quite a noticeable obstacle for Sumbmerged swimming and diving hypotheses proposed earlier. Firstly; David Hone and Thomas Holtz published a paper that they argue that the general body shape of Spinosaurus is poorly adapted for the attributed entirely submerged, aquatic lifestyle, drawing on the amount of water drag and aquatic instability from the sail, as well as the rigid trunk and seemingly scarcely-muscled tail. Animals like crocodilians require a flexible body in order to move through the water and make sharp turns when chasing prey, and this is directly contradicted by Hone and Holtz's findings.[32]

Shape of sail[]

Ddoexjc-a17b5ec0-f145-42a7-aac9-d85d746809f9

Various specimens of Spinosaurus, by SpinoInWonderland

The sail of Spinosaurus isn't complete in any specimen, they're all partial and incomplete. The new reconstructions of Spinosaurus by Ibraham in 2014 and 2020 reconstruct the sail as roughly square, with a light dip roughly in the middle of the sail. Because the sail of the FSAC-KK 11888 is not very well complete, with only one complete anterior neural spine, and the other 5 anterior spines being incomplete, and the posterior part of the FSAC-KK 11888 sail is unknown.[29]

Scott-hartman-spino

Skeletals by Scott Hartman, bottom one shows speculative missing notch in the back of the sail.

The sail could have been round or have a big notch in the back somewhere, which Scott Hartman made a speculative skeletal proposing this.

Specimens[]

Images (4)-0

NMC Humerus

▪NMC 41852/NMC 42852 humerus: Potentially, The Largest Spinosaurinae & Spinosauridae specimen known so far. Cau et. al. compared it to a Limaysaurus humerus and claimed that it was a rebbachisaur, however later determined that it doesn't match rebbachisaur humeri. Ibrahim et al. (2014) supports a direct spinosaur affinity. [74]

  • It should be noted that it's absolutely not possible to determine a size for this specimen, as there is no arm material known from any definite S. aegyptiacus specimens.
4 - Copia

Photo of the MSNM V4047 specimen

Spinosaurus skull MSNM V4047

Spinosaurus skull MSNM-V specimen

▪MSNM V4047: a very large specimen that has been recovered from the Kem Kem fossil beds, estimated to be 13-14.7m long and is currently in the Milano Natural History Museum.[75] Described by Dal Sasso and colleagues in 2005, consists of a rostrum (premaxillae, partial maxillae, and partial nasals) 98.8 centimeters (38.9 in). It's currently assigned as Spinosaurinae indet. and cannot synonymised with Spinosaurus aegyptiacus as there is no overlapping material with specimens that can be assigned to S. aegyptiacus (Lacerda 2021). However later papers and publications attributed this specimen to Spinosaurus sp.[76]

Images (3)-1

NHMUK R specimen's illustration/replica

▪NHMUK R 16421: another noteworthy, potentially larger specimen known from a single dentary and assigned as Spinosaurus cf. aegyptiacus. It differs from the holotype by its alveoli count, although it is uncertain if that's enough to seperate it from S. aegyptiacus and could be explained by ontology or individual variation.

FSAC-KK-11888 specimens

Attributed remains to subadult specimen: FSAC-KK-11888

FSAC-KK-11888 comparission

FSAC-KK-11888 subadult specimens comparission to an Icthyovenator vertabrae

▪FSAC-KK-11888: a partial, fragmentary subadult recovered from the Kem Kem beds of North Africa, and described by Ibrahim and colleagues (2014) and designated as the neotype specimen (although Evers and colleagues 2015 reject the neotype designation for FSAC-KK-11888).

▪MSNM V6894: a potential juvenile

Dorsal neural spine (BSP 1912 VIII 19)

Dorsal neural spine of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus (BSP 1912 VIII 19)

BSP 1912 Petite Paleoartist Sauriazoicillus

BSP 1912 description by Petite Paleoartist / Sauriazoicillus

▪BSP 1912 VIII 19: The Holotype specimen known from a left dentary, partial sail, vertebrae, and ribs. Its growth stage is unclear, estimated to be around 10+ meters long. [77]

Spinosaurus snouts versions

Comparison between the snouts MNSM V4047 and MNHN SAM 124

▪MNHN SAM 124: Housed at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, is an upper snout which consists of partial premaxillae, partial maxillae, vomers, and a dentary fragment. Was described by Taquet and Russell in 1998, the specimen is 13.4 to 13.6 centimeters (5.3–5.4 in) in width, yet no length was stated.

Paleoenvironment[]

Spinsaurus lived in swamps and wetlands of Africa. This ecosystem is still being investigated and is only partially known. Essentially its quite openly referred as the most dangerous place on Earth by paleontologists due to sheer abundancy of predatory carnivores.[78][79][80][81]

What we do know is that Spinosaurus shared it's environment with other Theropods such as a large Unnamed Abelisaur, ( potentially ) Enigmatic Bahariasaurus, Deltadromeus, Carcharodontosaurus, ( potentially ) Sigilmassasaurus ( as several spinosaurids sharing same environment and habitat is known from Ceratosuchops and Riparovenator ) and smaller theropods such as an unnamed dromaeosaurid and Rugops.

Along with these Theropods, the environment was shared with the massive sauropods such as The Paralititan. In the waters of this ecosystem were massive fish and marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs as well as several species of gigantic crocodylimorphs.

Popular Media[]

  • RexSlapped2

    Spinosaurus as it appears killing a Tyrannosaurus, in Jurassic Park 3

    Spinosaurus has become an iconic dinosaur and its fame started with the film, Jurassic Park III, the first Jurassic Park film not based on a Michael Crichton book. Spinosaurus was portrayed as the main "villain" that caused destruction in its path. In an infamous scene, this Spinosaurus was seen fighting a Tyrannosaurus rex and defeating it. A Spinosaurus fossil Skeleton was seen in Jurassic World where it was destroyed by the Tyrannosaurus, Rexy, during the Isla Nublar Incident of 2015. It is also one of the dinosaurs included in the Holoscape of Innovation Center, though it is unknown if Spinosaurus actually lives in Jurassic World. Spinosaurus also apparently into cruelty after the Isla Nublar Incident of 2015 before Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, on Isla Nublar, though it's unknown if there were any surviving populations left. However, it was planned to be in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has a rematch with the T. rex before being cut from the film entirely. Spinosaurus also appears in most of the Jurassic Park expanded the universe, including games and toy lines.
  • The original plan was to include a Baryonyx instead of Spinosaurus but it was Scrapped.
    Spinosaurus 5

    Spinosaurus from Mesozoic Life

  • A Spinosaurus nicknamed "Spiny" is one of the main dinosaurs in Dinosaur King, but the depiction of the dinosaur is now considered to be outdated.
  • Spinosaurus appears in the video game Carnivores 2, with inaccurate anatomy because in the epoch there was little information about this dinosaur.
  • Spinosaurus appears in the BBC series Primeval and its following shows, being portrayed living in the same place as a Raptor (Dromaeosaurus). Another one appears in Series 5.
  • Spinosaurus is also in the Discovery Channel's Monsters Resurrected, portrayed as the "Biggest Killer Dino", where it was inaccurately shown to be the super top predator on land. It was seen lifting up and consuming a Rugops whole, kill a Carcharodontosaurus with a single slash of its claws, and slice up the sides of Sarcosuchus. But in the end, it was brought down by a pack of 5 Rugops. The portrayal was noticeably over-powered compared to the real dinosaur, being treated as a super-predator rather than the piscivorous animal it is known for being.
  • Spinosaurus appears in the TV show, Dino Dan, Dino Dan: Trek’s Adventures & Dino Dana as a Popular Character.
  • A Spinosaurus, nicknamed "Spike", makes an appearance in the video game Jurassic: The Hunted appears as a boss.
  • Spinosaurus appears in National Geographic's Bizarre Dinosaurs, where its sail is talked about. The same Spinosaurus model was briefly seen in another National Geographic Documentary Dinomorphosis.
  • Spinosaurus appears in the Japanese animated film Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur 2006, where it is the abused pet of an evil time-traveling dinosaur poacher. Also, near the climax, Spinosaurus faces off with Tyrannosaurus only to be defeated.
  • Spinosaurus makes an appearance in the recent video game Prehistoric Kingdom.
  • Spinosaurus appears in the first episode of BBC's Planet Dinosaur as a fish hunter and during the drought shown to hunt land animals if there are no aquatic animals to eat (no animal eats one thing being an opportunist spinosaurus would likely eat whatever it could), At one of the remaining pools a Sarcosuchus awakens from its hibernation & warded off the Spinosaurus and then resumed hibernation. It later competes against a Carcharodontosaurus for an Ouranosaurus carcass and defeats it in battle with its claws.
  • A similar Spinosaurus model was seen in two other Documentaries PBS's Nova National Geographic Special Documentary Bigger Than T. rex & Top 10 Biggest Beasts Ever from Nat. Geo. Wild AKA World's Biggest Beasts from The Smithsonian Channel.
  • Spinosaurus also appears in the 12th episode of The Land Before Time television series but is inaccurately shown with only two fingers. It was also a minor antagonist in the film.
  • A Spinosaurus makes a brief appearance in the Asylum film Age of Dinosaurs where it was running around the city with the rest of the escaped dinosaurs & somehow is able to climb on top of a tall building.
  • Spinosaurus appears in the game Jurassic World: Evolution. It is based on the Jurassic Park III variant.
  • Spinosaurus was the main character in Ricardo Delgado's Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians mini-series.
  • The Dinobot Scorn of Transformers: Age of Extinction, the Decepticon Undermine and his Autobot copy Repugnus of Transformers: Cybertron all turn into a mechanical version of Spinosaurus as their alt modes. Scorn is portrayed in the film with an outdated design of proportionally long legs and normal theropod tail, but also features 3 sails on his back rather than one.
  • The Spinosaurus appears in the game Parkasaurus.
  • Spinosaurus appears in the ROBLOX game "Era of Terror: Remastered", like the other dinosaurs in the game, it starts off as a juvenile then grows into an adult, taking about 40 real-life minutes to complete a growth stage.
  • Spinosaurus does appear in the game Jurassic World: Alive with the same design as it does in Jurassic Park III.
  • Spinosaurus appears in the game Jurassic World: The Game.
  • Spinosaurus made an appearance in the Roblox game called "Dinosaur Simulator".
  • It also makes an appearance in the Dora the Explorer episode, Dora & Diego in the Time of Dinosaurs. It is inaccurately depicted wiggling its spine, but this is not true, since it could kill the dinosaur in actuality.
  • Spinosaurus also appears as the main antagonist named "Spino" in the Disney show Gigantosaurus.

Gallery[]

Other wikis[]

References[]

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Videos[]

Calls_of_the_Spinosaurus

Calls of the Spinosaurus

A hypothetical reconstruction on Spinosaurus vocalization.

Jurassic_Park_-_Spinosaurus._aegypticus_Sound_Effects_HD

Jurassic Park - Spinosaurus. aegypticus Sound Effects HD

Sounds of the Spinosaurus from the Jurassic Park franchise.

Reconstructed_sound_on_the_Spinosaurus._Based_on_the_ecological_niche,_morphology_and_behavioral_evidence_in_the_fossil_records_and_from_closest_relatives.

Reconstructed sound on the Spinosaurus. Based on the ecological niche, morphology and behavioral evidence in the fossil records and from closest relatives.

Reconstructed sounds of the Spinosaurus. aegypticus. Based on Paleontological and Zoological evidence about the animals ecological niche, habitat, morphology, and behavioral patterns in relation to its closest living relatives, sounds of the Great Blue Heron, Nile Crocodile, Southern Cassowary, Griffon Vulture, American Alligator, and Great Barbet all create the base low frequency and chilling bellow of what a Spinosaurus' vocals might have sounded like.

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