Spinosaurus
| Spinosaurus Temporal range: Cretaceous |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Sauropsida |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | Spinosauridae |
| Genus: | Spinosaurus Ernst Stromer, 1915 |
Spinosaurus (which means 'spiny lizard') was a huge meat eating dinosaur from the Cretaceous, 112 to 97 million years ago.
Description of Spinosaurus [change]
This dinosaur grew up to 12-17 meters long, stood up to 5 metres high, and weighed up to 8 tons. It had a two meter high sail on its back like Dimetrodon. Several uses have been suggested for this sail, such as to help control its body temperature, as a way to attract a mate, and to intimidate or frighten enemies. It lived in what is now Sahara Desert, but which then was mangrove forests alongside shoreline conditions, tidal flats and channels. From the shape of its teeth and jaw, it may have been mainly a piscivore.
Its bones were first discovered in Egypt in 1912 and named by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1915. Two species, S. aegyptiacus and S. marocannus, are recognized by many paleontologists, although many say there is only one. Spinosaurus looked like Baryonyx except it was larger and more heavily built. Six specimens of Spinosaurus have been uncovered. Spinosaurus is much longer than Tyrannosaurus.
Media [change]
It was featured as the main dinosaur in the 2001 film Jurassic Park III. It has also apppeared on postage stamps in several countries, and many toy companies have made models of Spinosaurus.
