MADRID 12 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
New fossils of huge predators of the Cretaceous reveal that adapted to life in the water about 95 million years ago. It is the most convincing evidence to date of a dinosaur able to live and hunt in the aquatic environment .
The fossils also indicate that Spinosaurus aegyptiacus was the biggest predatory dinosaur known on Earth, about 3 feet larger than Tyrannosaurus Rex . These results have been published in the journal Science and National Geographic .
An international research team – which includes Nizar Ibrahim and paleontologists Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago; Cristiano Dal Sasso and Simone Maganuco the Natural History Museum of Milan; Zouhri and Samir Hassan II University of Casablanca in Morocco -. found that Spinosaurus developed a variety of aquatic adaptations hitherto unknown
The researchers reached their conclusions after analyzing new fossils in the Sahara Moroccan as well as a partial skull of Spinosaurus and other collections housed in museums around the world remains and historical records and images from the first discovery of Spinosaurus reported in Egypt more than 100 years ago. According to lead author, Ibrahim, work on this animal was like studying an alien from outer space, is unlike any other dinosaur that I have seen. “
Aquatic adaptations of Spinosaurus differ significantly from the previous members spinosaurids family that lived on land, but are known to eat fish.
These adaptations small nostrils are included in the center of skull, which allowed him to breathe as his head was in the water. tabi neurovascular openings at the end of the muzzle , which contain crocodiles pressure receptors that allow them to detect movement in the water.
It also featured giant teeth inclined on the front of the snout. Taper and the location of the teeth was very appropriate for catching fish. A long neck and trunk that shifted the center of mass Dinosaur forward. This made walking on two legs on the ground almost impossible, but facilitated the movement in the water.
had powerful forelimbs with curved talons . These claws were ideal for connecting or cutting slippery prey. Had a small pelvis and short hind legs with muscular thighs. As in the first whales, these adaptations were to paddle in the water and predators that use bipedal locomotion on land differ markedly from other dinosaurs.
more than a century ago, German paleontologist Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach Freiherr Spinosaurus evidence discovered in the Egyptian Sahara. Unfortunately, all Stromer fossils were destroyed during the Allied bombing of Munich on April 1944, Germany. Ibrahim, however, was able to locate notes, sketches and photos Stromer in the archives and in the Stromer family castle in Bavaria to complement publications Stromer.
New Spinosaurus fossils were discovered in the Moroccan Sahara along desert cliffs known as Kem Kem beds . This area was once a river system extending from Morocco to Egypt today. At that time, a variety of aquatic life populated the system, including large sharks, coelacanths, lungfish, plus giant flying reptiles and dinosaurs predators.
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