Spinosaurus was one of the most spectacular-looking dinosaurs of all time. It was a huge, meat-eating creature that was prabably a very succesful predator because of the special adaptations to its body. The most noticeable thing about Spinosaurus was the amazing "sail" that stuck out of its back. this sail was made up of spike-shaped spines of bone that stuck up from its backbone, joined together by a layer of skin.
Discovery
As fossils, the giant spines look almost like giant thorns, which is how Spinosaurus got the name "thorn lizard" when it was discovered by a dinosaur hunter named Stromer in 1951. The sail of a fully grown male Spinosaurus would have been well over 2 metres ( 6 feet ) long, which is taller than a big man. And that's just the sail-the rest of the dinosaur measured 12 meatres ( 40 feet )! Such a heavy body part must have had an important job.
The weight of this huge structure means that Spinosaurus is one of the heaviest meat-eating dinosaurs ever. It weighed just a little less than Tyrannosaurus, the largest meat-eater to live on planet Earth at any time.
Body Facts
Powerful jaws held teeth that were straight, rather than curved like most other meat-eating dinosaurs. Having longer arms than most other two-legged meat-eaters suggests that Spinosaurus may have spent some time walking on all fours. Its spines were up to 2 metres (6.5 feet) long, projecting from the backbone. The skin of Spinosaurus' s sail may have been brightly coloured for display, as a way of attracting females. The spines were linked by a layer of skin, which probably carried many blood vessels and helped Spinosaurus warm up.
What was the sail for?
There are lots of theories about the uses of Spinosaurus's sail. The most popular is that it was used to control the dinosaur's body temprature. Early in the morning Spinosaurus would have turned its sail towards the sun, which would have warmed the blood as it passed through the sail. This is part of the reason for Spinosaurus being such a great hunter: because it warmed up more quickly than the cold - blooded reptiles on which it fed, it was faster moving than they were in the morning . Spinosaurus must have eaten lunch early every day!
Another theory is that Spinosaurus's sail could have been brightly coloured. As well as being used to control its body temprature, it would have been used by males to attract females, in the same way as peacocks use their fans. The males might also have used their sails to compeate with each other when trying to decide which of them was the toughest dinosaur in the neighbourhood.
EUROPEAN RELATIVES
A new African dinosaur from the same family as Spinosaurus , called Suchomimus, has been discovered . It has a long snout like a crocodile, which is very similar to that of the European dinosaur Baryonyx. Perhaps Spinosaurus had distant relatives living in Europe.
Fast Facts
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