Spinosaurus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids SpinosaurusTemporal range: Cretaceous
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Spinosaurus
Ernst Stromer, 1915
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Spinosaurus (which means 'spiny lizard') was a huge semi-aquatic dinosaur from the Cretaceous, 112 to 97 million years ago. It had paddle-like feet and nostrils on top of its crocodile-like head. This would let it submerge as a crocodile does.
The same research suggests it was perhaps larger than Tyrannosaurus rex, but more clumsy on land, moving as a quadruped. All these ideas had been suggested before. The discovery of a more complete skeleton made palaeontologists think they were correct. The fossil was found in Morocco by a private collector who let scientists examine it.
Spinosaurus bones were first discovered in Egypt in 1912 by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1915. Two species, S. aegyptiacus and S. marocannus, are recognized by many paleontologists, but there may only be one. Spinosaurus looked like Baryonyx except it was larger and more heavily built. Six specimens of Spinosaurus have been uncovered. Apparently, good material was destroyed in a WW2 bombing raid.
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Description
Spinosaurus was larger than Tyrannosaurus. Estimates suggest that it was 12.6 to 18 metres (41 to 59 ft) in length and 7 to 20.9 tonnes (7.7 to 23.0 short tons) in weight. It had a two meter high sail on its back like Dimetrodon. Several uses have been suggested for this sail, such as to help control its body temperature, as a way to attract a mate, and to intimidate or frighten enemies. It lived in what is now Sahara Desert, but which then was mangrove forests alongside shoreline conditions, tidal flats and channels.
The skull of Spinosaurus was long and narrow like that of a modern gharial. Spinosaurus is known to have eaten fish. Evidence suggests that it lived both on land and in water like a modern crocodilian.
Media
It was featured as the main dinosaur in the 2001 film Jurassic Park III. It has also apppeared on postage stamps in several countries, and many toy companies have made models of Spinosaurus.
Images for kids
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Plate I in Stromer (1915) showing S. aegyptiacus holotype elements
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Specimen MNHN SAM 124 of S. maroccanus, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris
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Specimen MSNM V4047 of S. aegyptiacus in the Civic Natural History Museum, Milan
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Skull of a reconstructed subadult skeleton from a private collection
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Life restoration
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Reconstructed replicas of the holotype vertebrae, National Geographic Museum, Washington, D. C.
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S. aegyptiacus head based on the 2005 reconstruction by Cristiano Dal Sasso
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Restoration of various spinosaurids that did not live in the same time or space
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1915 illustration of S. aegyptiacus dorsal vertebrae
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Side view of reconstructed skeleton
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Reconstructed skull and neck
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Tooth from Morocco in various views
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Restoration of Spinosaurus attacking the sclerorynchid Onchopristis
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S. aegyptiacus hunting a Mawsonia in an aquatic pursuit predator model
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Reconstructed skeleton with traditional, long-legged posture
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Reconstructed foot, note straight claws and large hallux
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Restoration of Spinosaurus with contemporaneous animals of the Bahariya Formation
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Sculpture based on the 2014 reconstruction, prior to the discovery of the paddle-like tail, Museum of Natural Science, Barcelona
See also
In Spanish: Spinosaurus aegyptiacus para niños
