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The huge African predator Spinosaurus spent much of its life in the water, powered by a paddle-shaped tail while hunting large fish, a “river monster,” according to scientists, which showed that some dinosaurs invaded the aquatic kingdom.
Scientists announced on Wednesday the discovery of fossil tail bones of Spinosaurus in southeastern Morocco that provided a deeper understanding of the appearance, lifestyle and capabilities of the longest recorded carnivorous dinosaur.
“Spinosaurus had a highly specialized tail: a propeller structure that would have allowed this river monster to actively pursue its prey in the water column,” said University of Detroit Mercy paleontologist and anatomist Nizar Ibrahim, lead author of the study. published in the journal Nature.
Spinosaurus, which lived 95 million years ago during the Cretaceous period, was a very unusual dinosaur, and not just because of its amazing dimensions: up to 50 feet (15 meters) long and seven tons.
Spinosaurus’ anatomy had remained mysterious for decades after crucial fossils were destroyed during World War II until the 2008 discovery of the Moroccan skeleton, with additional tail bones unearthed since 2015.
Its tail was flexible with a large surface area thanks to a series of tall neural spines, different from the rigid and sharp tails of other carnivorous dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex, indicating that Spinosaurus and its close relatives participated in tail-driven locomotion at unlike any other dinosaur.
Laboratory experiments in which a plastic model of Spinosaurus’ tail was attached to a robotic swimming device showed that the tail could move laterally to push and feed the animal through the water like a crocodile, said George Lauder, biologist and fish biomechanic from Harvard University. co-author.
This indicates that Spinosaurus terrorized rivers and riverbanks like a semi-aquatic animal, not just wading in the water waiting for fish to swim. It may have eaten huge fish, including sharks.
“This discovery nullifies decades-old ideas that non-bird dinosaurs were restricted to terrestrial environments,” said Harvard University paleontologist and vertebrate biomechanics, Stephanie Pierce, co-author of the study. “So yes, we believe this discovery is revolutionizing our understanding of dinosaur biology.”
Spinosaurus could still move on land and lay eggs there, perhaps walking on all fours instead of two like other carnivorous dinosaurs.
“But it had so many adaptations to an aquatic existence: high nostrils in the skull and further behind the tip, flat-bottomed bones and claws, dense, thickened bone for buoyancy control, and this newly discovered form of tail that would be they have been at least as aquatic as Nile crocodiles, ”said University of Portsmouth paleontologist and study co-author David Martill.
“It could just knock T. rex down,” Pierce said, “as the most famous and exciting carnivorous dinosaur.”
