picture this you're a fish in the lake Cretaceous swimming along the Seas of what we now know as Northern Africa the water's warm things could be worse but suddenly you feel there's something behind you you turn around but it's too late for you you're face to face with the largest carnivorous dinosaur to ever be discovered the Spinosaurus what is a Spinosaurus well that's a good question and as you'll see during this video there is still so much about the Spinosaurus that is debated amongst paleontologists but first let's get some context on the dinosaur the spinosaurus is a long slender and large carnivore who roamed the Earth in the late Cretaceous Period a period of time that lasted between approximately 100 million and 66 million years ago the dinosaur is classified as a large therabod who were carnivorous dinosaurs that were usually bipedal meaning they walked on two legs the spinosaurus is particularly well known because of how strange it is post-doctoral researcher Mateo fabri who is based at the Field museum in Chicago said I think this animal is simply weird we have nothing alive today that could be considered remotely similar there are two species of Spinosaurus that have been named so far Spinosaurus egypticus which was found in Egypt and Spinosaurus marokanis which was found in Morocco some people believe that the Sahara Desert is full of Spinosaurus fossils waiting to be discovered but this is a particularly difficult area to dig in given the harsh and unforgiving environment currently remains of the spinosaurus have been found in Northern Africa putting together the story of this giant has been challenging for researchers as only incomplete fossils have been discovered The Remains date to the sanomanian stage of the lake Cretaceous between 100. 5 and 95 million years ago the dinosaur was officially named in 1915. by Ernst fryer Stromer Von Reichenbach a German paleontologist and aristocrat the journey to get to this discovery was a Rocky one world war was looming a cholera outbreak broke out on stromer's ship on the way to Egypt when Stromer finally arrived to Egypt in 1910 he was allowed to excavate an area 200 miles away from Cairo with his assistant Austrian paleontologist Richard marcroft after a tough few years in 1912 markcroft discovered the partial remains of Spinosaurus they were found in the baharia Oasis which is located in Western Egypt and is a popular tourist destination 370 kilometers almost 230 miles north of Cairo the capital of Egypt this must have been a mind-blowing discovery a large apex predator found 10 years after the first Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil stromer's first descriptions of the fossil show he was slightly taken aback by the find recording in his description that the specimen would need certain specialization to study it properly he thought the dinosaur stood on high limbs like a Tyrannosaurus Rex and had a long back covered in spines Stromer did what he could with limited fossils filling in the blanks with what he already knew about other theropod dinosaurs at this point in time paleontology was still a relatively new field of research we only started getting scientific descriptions of dinosaurs in the 1800s and anatomist Richard Owen only coined the term dinosaur in 1842 even then the field of paleontology wasn't regarded as a serious scientific area of study until the 1970s sadly the Spinosaurus fossils that Stromer and markcroft discovered were destroyed in April 1944.
when they were housed in Munich's paleontological Museum as part of the Bavarian State collection of paleontology they were bombed by British aircraft in World War II Stromer had attempted to save the fossils by pleading with the museum director to move them to Safe spaces like caves and salt mines but unfortunately his pleas came to no avail to the loyal Nazi supporter and Museum director Carl bierlin perhaps drummer's open criticisms of the Nazi regime didn't help his case after this loss for a long time the spinosaurus was known only from stromer's descriptions and drawings the spinosaurus was a mystery even when or perhaps especially when paleontologists found relatives called spinosaurids around the world in places like Brazil and Thailand small sections of Spinosaurus skeletons were found in the post-war world and theories started to be shared but without a full specimen what could researchers do the mystery continued until the 1990s and 2000s where more remains were found in Algeria Morocco and Tunisia Southeastern Morocco is a hotbed for finding fossils thanks to the industry of Fossil Finders cultivated there all year round fossil Hunters dig in the Rocks hoping to find bones to sell to exporters and wholesalers an ethically ambiguous practice which nevertheless provides important income for many people in this area paleontologists like nizar Ibrahim who is of German Moroccan descent have cultivated relationships with local Fossil Finders to keep an eye on what they discover Ibraham specializes in vertebrae and has been fascinated with the spinosaurus ever since he was a boy therefore it was a lucky day for Ibraham when he met someone who found bones belonging to a Spinosaurus in 2008. soon afterwards researchers at the Natural History Museum of Milan notified Ibrahim of more discoveries from a local Miner eventually Ibrahim and his team were able to go to the site of these discoveries in 2013. where they found more and more bone fragments these discoveries were found in the chemcam beds which are red Sandstone formations dating between 95 and 100 million years old millions of years ago these rocks once held an enormous river system they're similar to the baharia area that Stromer and Markov explored in the early 1900s eventually Ibraham was able to piece together the puzzle pieces of these discoveries to give us a more complete picture of the Spinosaurus the discovery of the spinosaurus has helped us understand more about other spinosaurids because we've found more complete materials for the Spinosaurus to help us understand the story of the spinosaurus let's take a quick look at their family tree spinosaurids have been found all over the world including Asia Africa Europe and South America spinosaurids have long narrow skulls they probably all had a similar diet spinosaurids have been found with fish scales partially digested and Bones of other dinosaurs in their stomachs one pterosaur bone was also found with spinosaurid teeth stuck in it however like many dinosaur groups there is diversity among spinosaurids for example if we use what we know from current research the Baryonyx a cousin of Spinosaurus probably swam and had a fairly aquatic lifestyle but the sukomimus is a spinosaurid with less dense or hollower bones compared to the Spinosaurus and Baryonyx so it probably had a different Lifestyle the sukomimus would have lived and hunted in the shallows as opposed to a more aquatic existence there couldn't be a more exciting time to learn about the Spinosaurus family because paleontologists are still making Amazing Discoveries about them in 2022 fossils were found in the Isle of Wight an island in the English Channel by Nick Chase who is renowned for his skill in finding dinosaur fossils the discovery has been called The White Rock Spinosaurus but it is still waiting its official scientific name and will probably have to find more of it before we can give it a name the area it was found in is called the vectus formation which is a difficult area to find dinosaur fossils in the formation protects remnants from a time when sea levels were starting to rise so the White Rock spinosaurid was likely to hunt in Lagoon Waters and sand Flats the find includes pelvic bones and vertebrae and although there isn't a complete specimen the discovery was enough to show us that this was a massive creature the Bones have markings that indicate the dinosaur was scavenged after its death there are small finger-sized tunnels in the pelvis which could be a sign of larvae from a Scavenging beetle current estimates date the bones to around 125 million years Chris Baker who is studying for his PhD at the University of Southampton was very excited about the discovery telling journalists that it was a huge animal more than 10 meters long and judging by the dimensions quite possibly the largest hunting dinosaur ever discovered in Europe this discovery could suggest that Spinosaurus spread through Western Europe before they became more prevalent in other areas of the world [Music] foreign may also be familiar to a mainstream audience because it already had its Hollywood debut in Jurassic Park 3.
the third installment of the original franchise and the first to not be based on a novel by Michael Crichton directed by Joe Johnston and released in 2001 this film has become controversial amongst fans the film debuted the spinosaurus in an explosive and dramatic battle against the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex resulting in and Skip ahead if you don't want spoilers the spinosaurus snapping the T-Rex's neck with its jaws not only were fans outraged that the Beloved Tyrannosaurus Rex had been defeated by the newcomer apex predator but many thought this was simply unrealistic you know for a film involving reintroducing dinosaurs using DNA preserved in Amber the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the spinosaurus were separated by space and time and the spinosaurus just wouldn't have had the jaw strength and teeth necessary to take down a tyrannosaurus in this way nevertheless the spinosaurus won its way into some fans Hearts likely partially due to its large size and ferocious nature the film depicted this dinosaur as walking on two strong high and legs and using its claws to grab prey the creature in Jurassic Park 3 is an agile and flexible dinosaur with massive jaw strength and large teeth just like many other dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park franchise like the Velociraptor and the dilophosaurus this version of the spinosaurus isn't completely accurate whilst this might have been partially the product of molding the spinosaurus to fit the film's storyline it was also the product of lack of knowledge many of the discoveries about this dinosaur have happened in recent years so at the moment paleontologists know a bit about Spinosaurus and its family tree and film audiences are familiar with a not totally accurate version of the Spinosaurus however there are still many topics of debate that surround Spinosaurus we're going to introduce these topics to you and we'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions in the comments unfortunately for many of these topics there simply isn't an answer yet so we're sorry if that's what you were looking for but we'll keep you updated if new breakthroughs are made foreign it has been largely agreed that Spinosaurus was bigger than the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Giganotosaurus but there has been debate over how large the dinosaur was which hasn't been helped by the current lack of incomplete fossils in 2005 a study used a Spinosaurus skull to measure it about 16 to 18 meters long or 52 to 59 feet that's the size of two London buses one behind the other however a 2007 study disagreed with the method of the 2005 study and suggested the spinosaurus was actually between 12. 6 and 14. 3 meters long or 41 to 47 feet so about as long as a semi-trailer truck more recently a partial Spinosaurus skeleton has been analyzed at 15.
2 meters long about 50 feet and was found to be still growing at the time of its death the same sense of speculation applies to how much the spinosaurus weighed estimates away this dinosaur at between 12 000 to 20 000 kilograms or between 13 and 22 tons in body mass Spinosaurus roughly translates to spined reptile or spine lizard a name gained for the sale on its back which is created by long spines growing from the creature's back vertebrae the spines were dense bones which could grow up to 2. 1 meters long or about seven feet and probably had a layer of skin connecting each spine this fascinating feature has been the subject of debate amongst researchers with many suggesting the following functions for the spinosaurus sale one theory is that the sale when fully extended safeguarded the Spinosaurus from any potential predators the spinosaurus is already the largest carnivore to exist but with its sale extended it could have appeared twice its size especially because with its flexible spine and ball and socket joints in the vertebrae the dinosaur could have arched its back to really emphasize its sale some researchers like paleontologist Jack Bowman Bailey believe this sale wasn't a sale at all but a large humped back Stromer when he first described the spinosaurus theorized that the spines were a fatty hump like a bison Bailey disagreed with what he called the fashionably anorexic image of many large dinosaurs and argued instead that the hump would have acted like heat shielding and energy storage through gigantothermy gigantothermi is a process that enables large animals like dinosaurs to maintain constant high body temperature through a large body and insulation published in 1997 Bailey's Theory held weight when it was thought that the spinosaurus lived in hot dry environments where it would need to protect itself from perishing in the heat but now we know they lived in swampy areas in a similar vein to Bailey's Theory some researchers suggested the sale was actually a hump to store fat in much like a camel in camels this fatty tissue can be used for sustenance when food sources are limited finally the most popular Theory at the moment is that this sale would have been ideal for recognizing and communicating with other members of its species nizar Ibrahim told the news website Live Science that the sale was likely used as a display structure it would have been visible from far away and even when the animal was swimming this way the animal could convey information about its age size and gender to other animals in particular other Spinosaurus some paleontologists think the sales were brightly colored which would have been great for display purposes the long narrow skull of a Spinosaurus was 1. 75 meters about six feet long almost the size of an entire velociraptor the skull resembles a crocodile skull but had nostrils near the eyes instead of at the end of the snout the spinosaurus had flat cone-shaped teeth in a long slim snout these attributes were ideal to Feast on fish-like coelacans sawfish lungfish and sharks all creatures that were plentiful in the kemcam riverbeds in Northern Africa we know this because the teeth weren't serrated so the spinosaurus couldn't rip into a tough hide this dinosaur may have fed using a grasp smash or grasp crunch method for hunting and eating getting into fish with harder scales and crustaceans a 2020 study suggested that the spinosaurus had very fast tooth replacement rates especially compared to a bell assurance and allosaurids which again would have helped it crunch into Crustaceans and armored fish if you were unlucky enough to have a Spinosaurus open its mouth whilst you were stood in front of it you'd see some large slanted teeth interlocking at the end of the snout next you'd find a row of six or seven thin sharp teeth on each side of the upper jaw Behind these were 12 more teeth there has also been a chemical analysis which tells us the preferred diet of a Spinosaurus in a 2010 study scientists looked at a tooth enamel on fossils and found the spinosaurus teeth were comparable to crocodiles and turtles the spinosaurus may have also eaten the carcasses of other dinosaurs as we mentioned before in 2004 researchers found a pterosaur bone with a spinosaur tooth stuck in it if the ancestors of the spinosaurus were Scavenging the spinosaurus could have possibly also scavenged non-aquatic creatures there are currently two theories on how the spinosaurus lived and hunted paleontologist David hone calls these The Waiting model and the pursuit Predator model respectively some researchers believe in one Theory over the other s think the situation was actually a bit of both what's the difference between these two theories this line of thought thinks the spinosaurus was an opportunist they would forage for fish catch prey on the shorelines and land and even dig for prey like the lungfish this adaptability would have given the spinosaurus an edge over other theropods when it came to hunting this idea is supported by the fact we have no other evidence of a large semi-land-dwelling creature that lives solely on fishing this Theory could also be applied to other spinosaurids based on what we know so far the other Theory suggests the spinosaurus was a specialist and specifically an aquatic predator based on aspects of the spinosaurus like its tail High Limbs and interlocking teeth those who believe in the pursuit Predator model suggest the spinosaurus spent more time in the water rather than on land which leads us on to our next topic of debate for a long time the spinosaurus was depicted with a long tail that narrows at the end much like many of its theropod ancestors scientists believed this tale was rigid and helped the spinosaurus balance a tail like this would have helped the spinosaurus if it was crawling and waiting in shallow water but recent discoveries have shed new light on the Spinosaurus and its tail when researchers in Morocco found a large paddle-shaped Tale in 2018.
they realized it was the most Complete Tale of a Spinosaurus ever discovered the fossil had long struts sticking out from the vertebrae which are the small bones that make up the tail the end of the tail is flexible capable of moving back and forth which would have helped the spinosaurus power through water nizar Ibraham is the lead researcher studying this new fossil discovery and described this tale as basically a dinosaur trying to build a fishtail this tale is perfect for Aquatic Life in North Africa 95 million years ago a place with significant river systems this tale reopens the debate on how Spinosaurus lived you see some researchers believe that a Spinosaurus was semi-aquatic spending some time on land and spending some time in the water here are seven reasons why researchers thought this number one with more Compact and dense bones compared to theropods who lived on land the spinosaurus would have more control over its buoyancy when swimming underwater you can find bones of a similar density in penguins and manatees both semi-aquatic creatures in fact when researching the bone density of the spinosaurus scientists gathered data on 250 living and extinct land dwelling and water dwelling creatures bone density is important for aquatic and semi-aquatic creatures dense bones will allow an animal to submerge itself into water it is worth mentioning that other dinosaurs also had very dense bones however this doesn't mean they swam groups like The sauropods had dense limb bones to help cope with the body weight pushed upon those limbs but some of their bones were much more lightweight DrMateo fabri and DrGuillermo navalon who co-led the study on Spinosaurus bone density made sure to look at a variety of Bones from each animal in their study which was the aforementioned study involving 250 subject specimens to make sure they were getting the full picture number two this dinosaur had stubby hind legs this style of short back legs have also been found in early whales and other animals that spend a lot of time in water which again strengthens the argument that the spinosaurus spent time underwater the spinosaurus also had wide flat feet which are ideal for paddling number three these legs and feet supported a barrel-shaped torso which you can find in some modern day aquatic mammals like dolphins number four their small nostrils were in the middle of the Spinosaurus skull this is useful if you're a creature trying to breathe whilst partially underwater number five lots of spinosaurid teeth have been found amongst the chemcom area of Morocco in areas that would have been Rivers millions of years ago in comparison researchers have found less non-spinosaurid teeth only about one to five percent of the teeth found in this area are non-spinosaurid number six the long neck of a Spinosaurus would have been useful for moving rapidly underwater to catch agile fish swimming by number seven finally the curved claws of a Spinosaurus are better for catching prey under water than trying to walk on land a Spinosaurus could hook an unsuspecting fish swimming by however some people push this idea a little further they thought the spinosaurus spent long periods of time hunting in water some reptiles had already adapted this way by the time the spinosaurus evolved Plesiosaurus for example were strong long-necked marine reptiles who survived the Triassic Extinction before being wiped out alongside the dinosaurs 66 million years ago the discovery of the almost complete tail fossil changed ideas about the Spinosaurus and supported those who believed the dinosaurs spent long periods of time underwater this discovery is huge as early as the 20th century paleontologists had been speculating about marine dinosaurs one line of thought suggested large plant-eating dinosaurs like sauropods lived in the water using the bodies of water to support their massive weight however none of these theories came to fruition so the more we find out about the Spinosaurus the more people get excited that this could finally be the Marine dinosaur we'd been looking for even before the discovery of the tale Ibrahim and his team first released research in 2014 showing that the spinosaurus had features that would suggest a lifestyle spent largely in the water like its skull shape and thick walled bones some paleontologists enthusiastically agree with this suggestion other researchers were skeptical of these new finds for various reasons asking questions like was this just evidence that the spinosaurus ate fish by wading into the shallows an idea that was already established by researchers under the waiting model how did it move through the water Guillermo navalon a researcher at the University of Cambridge suggested that the spinosaurus moved through a combination of walking in Shallow Waters like hippos and used its tail to push itself through the water Naval on told journalists he thought this method of moving would be ideal for ambushing large fish like lungfishes and coelacanths did newly discovered remains actually belong to the Spinosaurus or could it be another spinosaurid these doubts spurred Ibraham and his team on and they returned to Morocco in September of 2018. this brutal tough dig in hot conditions was reportedly fueled by both the hopes of new discovery and team breaks for Nutella the effort was worth it and by the end of 2018 the team had discovered over 30 Spinosaurus tail vertebrae there were several reasons why these were significant some of the bones matched up with illustrations first published by Ernst Stromer in the early 1900s the team didn't find duplicate bones at the dig site thus the fossils belong to one individual these discoveries went to the lab with Ibrahim who contacted experts like Stephanie Pierce a curator of vertebrae paleontology at Harvard's Museum of comparative zoology and George launder a fish biologist to help test his thesis models were created using the tail bones and tested in water This research showed that the spinosaurus tail had a much stronger and more effective forward thrust and water compared to other theropods this power could have allowed the spinosaurus to swim against currents and speed up to capture prey ibraham's team has continued their groundbreaking research they believed the spinosaurus possibly had webbed feet so they're looking to reconstruct the dinosaur's foot to see how it moved its toes this would be more evidence for ibraham's Theory which he summarized as contrary to recent suggestions that Spinosaurus was confined to waiting and the apprehension of prey from around the edges of bodies of water the morphology and function of its tale along with its other adaptations for life and water point to Spinosaurus having been an active and highly specialized aquatic Predator that pursued and caught its prey in the water column debate over well not exactly other paleontologists like David hone who calls the spinosaurus a shoreline generalist have pointed out that being a good swimmer doesn't rule out foraging behaviors hone points out that based on what we know the spinosaurus could have been instable in the water based on the proportions of its body could have had high drag because of its body shape particularly the sail on its back when moving in the water which wouldn't make it easy to pursue fast fishy Bray could have had low swimming efficiency ibrahim's paper compares the efficiency of the spinosaurus's tail for swimming to creatures like crocodiles but using ibrahim's data crocodiles had an efficiency 1.
