SCIENCE
Scientists were confused about the anatomy of Spinosaurus’ as their original fossils from Egypt were destroyed in World War Two.
The largest-known carnivorous dinosaur – Spinosaurus have long kept scientists wondering about how these water-loving beasts lived their lives. After a lot of research, scientists have finally got the answer.
On March 23, scientists unveiled that the Spinosaurus and its cousin Baryonyx have extremely compact bones that might be the main reason why these creatures were able to stay submerged for underwater swimming as semiaquatic predators targeting large prey.
According to scientists, the Spinosaurus were 50 feet (15 meters) long and weighed seven tons. These 95 million old dinosaurs were quite different from other dinosaurs. These unusual creatures were relatively small pelvis, short hind legs, paddle-like tail and feet for propulsion in the water and a curious sail-like structure of bony spines 7 feet (2 meters) tall on its back.
As per a postdoctoral researcher in paleontology at the Field Museum in Chicago and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature, “I think this animal is simply weird: we have nothing alive today that could be considered remotely similar”.
University of Oxford paleontologist and study co-author Roger Benson said, “I really like the idea of this giant animal, weighing many tons, submerging under water to catch prey. It is striking to me that it has a giant sail-crest on its back. That would have made it hard for it to hide under water, but much more ominous: a bit like a shark fin poking above the water line”.
Researchers claim that Spinosaurus has higher bone density than 33-feet long Baryonyx and 36-feet long Suchomimus. Baryonyx has a slightly lower bone density, but still very similar to Spinosaurus. Suchomimus, found as a more terrestrial animal in studies, has a bone density similar to other terrestrial dinosaurs, reptiles and mammals.
Scientists were confused about the anatomy of Spinosaurus’ as their original fossils from Egypt were destroyed in World War Two. It was only after a skeleton was discovered in Morocco in 2008 that paleontologists assessed that Spinosaurus was semiaquatic and great swimmer.
According to the University of Cambridge postdoctoral researcher and study co-author Guillermo Navalón, “Spinosaurus was perhaps moving along shallow waters using a combination of 'bottom-walking' - like modern hippos - and lateral strokes of its giant tail. They probably used this means of locomotion not to pursue prey for long distances in open waters but to ambush and catch very large fish like lungfishes or coelacanths”.
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