Spinosaurus

Height : 4 m (13.1 ft)

Length: 13 m (42.6 ft)

Weight : 3.6 tonnes (4 tons)

Spinosaurus was a massive carnivorous theropod that lived around 97 to 95 million years ago during the middle Cretaceous period. Spinosaurus had a huge spiny sail on its back that is believed to have been used for heat regulation. Spinosaurus lived in swampy areas and may have spent its time partly submerged; the sail could have been used to gather sunlight in the morning and evening, and radiate it during the mid day sun. Spinosaurus' teeth are long and conical and its snout is long and crocodilian suggesting that its primary diet consisted of fish. Spinosaurus is a similar size to T-rex but is more lightly built and slightly longer. The only fossils of Spinosaurus were destroyed during an air raid in World War Two.

Spinosaurus means "spiny lizard". Fossils were first found in Egypt, Africa in 1912 and have since been found in Morrocco. It was named by palaeontologist Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach in 1915.

  • Dinosauria (Dinosaurs)
    • Saurischia (Lizard Hipped)
      • Theropods (bipedal, mostly carnivores)
        • Tetanura (advanced theropods)
          • Spinosauria
            • Spinosaurus
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