Spinosaurus Facts
Spinosaurus Facts
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| Interesting Spinosaurus Facts: |
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| Spinosaurus was able to reach length of 49 feet and weight of 7 to 20 tons. |
| Spinosaurus was much larger than Tyrannosaurus rex. It was maybe even the largest carnivorous dinosaur that ever existed on the planet. |
| Spinosaurus had long, narrow, crocodile-shaped skull, small pelvis, short hind legs and long tail. The most prominent feature on the body was sail-like structure on the back. It was huge and composed of 5 to 6-feet-long neural spines (extensions of vertebrae) that were connected via skin. |
| Name "Spinosaurus" means "spine lizard". It refers to the prominent, long neural spines on the back of this dinosaur. |
| Some experts believe that main purpose of the sail of Spinosaurus was to increase the size of this dinosaur and intimidate nearby competitors. |
| Large surface area of the "sail" could have been used for absorbing and releasing of heat (it may have played important role in thermoregulation). |
| Final hypothesis about Spinosaurus sail is that it has been used to attract females during the mating season (it may have played important role during the courtship). |
| Spinosaurus primarily walked on two legs (bipedal animal), but it was also able to walk on all four of its legs. |
| Recent discoveries suggest that Spinosaurus was semi-aquatic creature. Based on the anatomy of pelvis, legs and tail, researchers concluded that Spinosaurus was good swimmer. |
| Spinosaurus was a carnivore. Its diet was based on various types of fish and aquatic reptiles. Land animals were occasionally on the menu. |
| Spinosaurus had numerous straight, conical, widely spaced teeth and two large canine teeth. Its teeth were very sharp and designed to firmly hold slippery prey. |
| Spinosaurus lived side by side with 40-feet-long, 10-tons-heavy Sarcosuchus (prehistoric crocodile). The chance to meet each other in the shared habitats was high, but clear picture of how they behaved during the encounter remains a mystery. |
| Original and most complete set of Spinosaurus bones, that was kept in the museum in Munich, was destroyed during the bombing in 1944 (during the WWII). |
| Spinosaurus is featured in the third part of the "Jurassic Park" (popular movie). |
| Spinosaurus can be seen on the postal stamps of Liberia, Guyana, Angola, Gambia and Tanzania. |
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