Description:
Spinosaurus was first discovered over 100 years ago in Egypt
by Ernst Stromer.
The fragmentary remains indicated a large dinosaur with a dramatic
sail on its back. Unfortunately all the specimens from that
original
discoverywere lost in a bombing raid in World War II. Since then,
fragmentary remains of isolated teeth, claws, and a few bones
were
all that were known of this enigmatic dinosaur. A local Moroccan
collector of fossils discovered a partial specimen which has
provided
additional clues as to its appearance. Unfortunately the remains
are still quite incomplete and in a n effort at hyperbole, researchers
have cobbled together bones from this find, photos (all that exists)
of the original specimen, extrapolations of specimens of diverse
size and analogy with related types to arrive at a composite specimen
of some 15 meters in size they term ‘bigger than T-rex”,
a term seized upon by fossil dealers to sell specimens. While
such
may indeed be the case, a quick perusal of the image in a recent
National Geographic magazine will reveal just how cobbled together
this composite is. Compare this to “Sue”, the T. rex
at the Field Museum that is some 90% complete.
Nevertheless,
Spinosaurus was a large carnivorous dinosaur which appears to
have
lived a near aquatic existence. The large, unserrated conical teeth
are more suited for seizing slippery prey than for slicing meat
from bones. The example offered here is quite large, most likely
coming from an animal in the upper quartile of the size spectrum.
There is some wear to the distal tooth end, presumably due to
wear
in life. Indeed, if this one had not been blunted it may well have
been 25-30% if intact. Perhaps I should have
extrapolated the size (dare I say it was long in the tooth)?
References:
- Science,
Vol 345, Issue 6204, 26 September 2014, pp1613-1616 and 48 pages
of supplementary material
- National
Geographic, October 2014, pp 100-121.
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