Study Reveals Way of Life Spinosaurus World’s Largest Carnivorous Dinosaur

KOMPAS.com – Studies examining bone density Spinosaurusfinally revealing how their lives were in the past.

In a study published in the journal Nature, the team of scientists said that Spinosaurus and its close relative, Baryonyx, had very compact bones.

Spinosaurus is a type dinosaur carnivore world’s largest known to scientists. The dense bones can help both of them stay submerged to swim underwater.

Also read: The Most Complete Triceratops Dinosaur Fossil Finds Reveals Its Life in the Past

Scientists say these animals are semi-aquatic predators, or animals that spend a lot of time in water, targeting large prey as food.

As reported by ReutersWednesday (23/3/2022) Spinosaurus and Baryonyx are members of a group of Cretaceous dinosaurs called spinosaurids.

They have a body structure that includes a long snout like a crocodile, accompanied by conical teeth for hunting prey in the water.

Spinosaurus, which is a type of giant dinosaur, has long been studied by scientists. The reason is, they don’t know how they live, including how these water-loving animals hunt their prey.

Scientists say large fish in rivers or lakes and the small dinosaurs that live in the vicinity may have been prey for the Spinosaurus species.

“I think this animal is really weird, we don’t have anything alive today that can be considered similar (to Spinosaurus),” said Matteo Fabbri, a postdoctoral researcher in paleontology at the Field Museum in Chicago and lead author of the study. .

Anatomi Spinosaurus

To note, Spinosaurus has a length of about 15 meters with a weight of up to seven tons. Dinosaur it is thought to have lived 95 million years ago in the African region.

Despite its gigantic size, Spinosaurus’ anatomy was unlike that of other dinosaurs due to its relatively small pelvis, short hind legs, tail and paddle-like legs for propulsion in water, and a 2-meter-long bony spine structure on its back.

“I really like the view of this giant animal, weighing many tons, sinking underwater to catch prey,” said University of Oxford paleontologist Roger Benson.

“I was very surprised that he (Spinosaurus) had a giant sail crest on his back. It would have made it difficult for him to hide underwater,” he continued.

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To date, no other dinosaurs have been found with such bone density as Spinosaurus and Baryonyx, thus indicating that these two animals were the only dinosaurs among other dinosaurs to have conquered the water world.

Its close relative, Baryonyx, was recorded to have been up to 10 meters long and lived about 125 million years ago in Europe.

On the other hand, previous researchers also found that a spinosaurid called Suchomimus lacked solid bones, indicating a degree of ecological diversity within this group of dinosaurs.

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Researchers say, that Suchomimus has a body length of up to 11 meters. The animal is also thought to have lived 120 million years ago in the African region.

In determining that greater bone density was directly related to aquatic presence, the researchers collected data on 297 living and extinct animal species, land dwellers and water dwellers.

Scientists in their study explain that bone density is a hallmark of animals adapted to live in water such as whales, seals, dugongs, hippos, crocodiles, penguins, and various extinct marine reptiles.

“Spinosaurus has the highest bone density of the three. Baryonyx has a slightly lower bone density, but is still very similar to Spinosaurus,” said Fabbri.

Baryonyx, he continued, had a slightly lower bone density, but was still very similar to Spinosaurus.

“Suchomimus, which was found to be a more terrestrial animal in our study, has a bone density similar to that of dinosaurs, reptiles and other land mammals.”

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Spinosaurus even exceeded the size of Tyrannosaurus rex, but its anatomy has long puzzled scientists.

The original fossils of Spinosaurus that have been found, were in Egypt and were destroyed during World War II. Furthermore, the skeleton of the same animal was also found in Morocco in 2008, equipped with an additional tailbone.

This is what later convinced some paleontologists that Spinosaurus was a semi-aquatic animal, as well as an active swimmer. However, the theory reaps the pros and cons among other experts.

So the new study, by Benson and his team, may provide another insight into how Spinosaurus lived.

“Spinosaurus probably moved along shallow water using a combination of ‘underwalking’ like the modern hippopotamus, as well as the lateral strokes of its giant tail,” explains University of Cambridge study co-author Guillermo Navalon.

According to him, the propulsion device on his body is not used to chase prey over long distances in open waters, but to ambush and catch very large fish such as lungfish or coelacanth.

Also read: New Dinosaur in Italy, Largest Fossil Ever Found

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