“Spinosaurus: Lost Giant of the Cretaceous” displays a reconstruction of the skeleton of the huge dinosaur that lived in the Cretaceous and, with dimensions of 6 meters high and 15 long, it was about 2.5 meters larger than the Tyrannosaurus rex , known as the “king of dinosaurs.”
National Geographic sponsored the research, led by Nizar Ibrahim and paleontologists Paul Sereno, University of Chicago, and confirmed that the animal had some unique characteristics that allowed him to perform in the land and in the water .
The team of paleontologists, who complete Cristiano Dal Sasso and Simone Maganuco the Natural History Museum of Milan (Italy), and Samir Zouhri University of Hassan II in Casablanca (Morocco), analyzed the fossils and created a new digital 3D model.
Among the features that make this animal are different shrink nasal passages, which could be put into a position above the head to facilitate breathing when he was partially submerged, according to Sereno said during the presentation.
“It’s a puzzle game with features of different animals,” said Cristiano Dal Sasso Efe, who noted that flat feet were webbed possibly believe that, like ducks to help propel water.
In addition, the skeleton of the skull revealed which had neurovascular openings at the end of the snout, similar to those crocodiles, with pressure receptors that allow them to detect movement in the water.
The exhibition, which runs until April 12, 2015, recreates the story of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus since German paleontologist Ernst Freiherr Stromer discovered in the early twentieth century, the first fossils in the Sahara desert.
His studies, his drawings and annotations revealed some of the unusual features of this prehistoric animal, the researchers considered “a rarity”.
However, a bombing during World War II destroyed the fossils and science had to wait more than a century until the Sahara Desert, this time in Morocco, gave further evidence of its existence.
Inspired by the legacy of Stromer, Ibrahim began his own investigation into the Spinosaurus which led him to Morocco, where they were discovered partial remains of his skeleton, which was analyzed and compared with other fossil and in 2008 Stromer documents.
The researchers believe that the Spinosaurus aegyptiacus lived in an era of giant creatures and large predators, some of which are also recreated in the exhibition, along with the remains of authentic fossils.
“This exhibition is a fascinating story of modern discoveries and takes us 95 million years back in time to what was probably the most dangerous place on Earth”, Kathryn Keane, vice president noted Exhibition of the Museum of National Geographic Society.
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