The genus Spinosaurus has been known for a long time. A 14-meter-long Spinosaurus skeleton has been hanging in the Field Museum in Chicago for almost three years. The dinosaur appears to be swimming through space.
– The proportions on it are incredibly strange. The tail is extremely long and the legs are short, said Matteo Fabbri, a researcher at the Field Museum, in an interview with AP.
But the new finds in the Sahara show a new generation that differs drastically from the previously known Spinosaurus.
The Akarazeras area in Niger was first excavated in the 1950s but was quickly forgotten. It wasn’t until seven decades later that researchers rediscovered the area.
They then searched further in the sand sea and finally found Spinosaurus mirabilis – or the “hell heron”, as it is also called.
– This area looked completely different at that time, there were lakes and it was forested, says Otto Hermelin, a geologist at Stockholm University.
According to the study, the fossil finds were found preserved in river sediments and were different from previous Spinosaurus finds. Among other things, the body was larger, the nose was straighter with teeth in a zigzag pattern and longer shins.
In addition, it wore a saber-shaped crest on its head.
– It is not yet clear what function the comb served. For example, it could have been a protection if it was attacked from behind, but that is not known, says Otto Hermelin.
From hunting After fishing along the coasts, Spinosaurus has finally found its way to riverine areas far inland. Otto Hermelin mentions that the discovery is important and provides better insight into the development of the genus.
– The jaw is very reminiscent of today’s crocodiles. It was possible to compare them, for example, with long-nosed crocodiles and thus understand how they hunted for fish.
Spinosaurus mirabilis lived 95 million years ago and quickly became extinct when global sea levels suddenly rose, according to the study. As a result, several low-lying areas around the world were flooded.
