Dino card No. 1701 of 2,027

Spinosaurus

Say it: SPY-nuh-SOR-us

Name means: “spine lizard”1

Ate: MeatSpinosaursEarly Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous

Spinosaurus was one of the biggest meat-eating dinosaurs, even bigger than T. rex! It had a huge sail on its back made of long spines, and a long snout like a crocodile. It lived in rivers and swamps in North Africa.1

Lived

126 to 72 million years ago5

Early Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

North Africa: Egypt, Morocco, Niger, Algeria, Tunisia, and possibly Kenya5 1

Food

Meat5 1

Length

up to 14 m1

scientists estimate

Weight

up to 7.4 tonnes1

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 5 cars

as long as 3 cars parked in a rowas long as 78 bananas end to endabout as heavy as an elephantas heavy as 1500 watermelons

How big was Spinosaurus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Spinosaurus had a sail on its back made of spines that could grow up to 1.65 metres (5.4 feet) long.1

Its skull was long and narrow like a crocodile, with straight conical teeth that had few or no serrations.1

Spinosaurus had short legs and a long, paddle-shaped tail, which suggests it was a good swimmer.1

It lived in mangrove forests and river systems along the coast of the Tethys Sea.1

The original Spinosaurus fossils were destroyed during World War II, but new ones have been found since.1

Spinosaurus is one of the largest known carnivorous dinosaurs, possibly longer than Tyrannosaurus rex.1

Its name means 'spine lizard' because of the long spines on its back.1

Spinosaurus had large, strong forelimbs with three fingers and a big claw on the first finger.1

AI-made picture of Spinosaurus — An AI-made picture of how Spinosaurus might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Spinosaurus

?How big was Spinosaurus?

About 14 metres (46 feet) long and 7.4 tonnes (8.2 short tons). Some estimates suggest 15 or 16 metres. These are estimates because no complete skeleton has been found.2 3 1

?Was Spinosaurus bigger than T. rex?

Yes, Spinosaurus was longer than T. rex, at about 14 metres (46 feet) compared to T. rex's roughly 12 metres (39 feet). But T. rex stood taller at the hips because Spinosaurus had short legs.2 3

?What did Spinosaurus eat?

It ate fish, and maybe other dinosaurs too. Its long, narrow snout and cone-shaped teeth were good for catching fish, like a crocodile.2 3

?Could Spinosaurus swim?

Scientists think it was semiaquatic, meaning it spent time in and near water. It had a paddle-like tail and dense bones for buoyancy control, but whether it swam a lot or mostly waded is debated.2 3 4

?Why did Spinosaurus have a sail?

Nobody knows for sure. It might have been for body temperature control, to attract mates, or to scare off rivals. Some scientists think it was a thin sail, others a fleshy hump.2 4

?When did Spinosaurus live?

It lived during the Late Cretaceous Period, about 99 to 94 million years ago.2 1

?Where did Spinosaurus live?

It lived in North Africa, in what is now Egypt and Morocco. Its home was tidal flats and mangrove forests near the coast.2 3

?Is Spinosaurus a dinosaur?

Yes, Spinosaurus is a dinosaur. It is a type of theropod, the group of mostly meat-eating dinosaurs that includes T. rex and birds.2 3

?How fast could Spinosaurus run?

It probably was not very fast on land because it had short, stubby legs. It was not built for speed.3

?What does the name Spinosaurus mean?

It means 'spine lizard', because of the long spines on its back that formed a sail.2 1

Ask Rex about Spinosaurus

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Myth buster

Myth: Spinosaurus was a land hunter like T. rex.

Truth: Spinosaurus was semi-aquatic and mostly ate fish, using its crocodile-like snout and paddle tail for swimming.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Spinosaurus
Named by: Stromer 19155
Group: Spinosaurs
Family / clade: Spinosauridae5
Classification: Theropoda > Spinosauridae5
Age of the rocks: 126 to 72 million years (Barremian / Campanian)5
Rock formations: Gara Sbaa, Ifezouane, Aïn el Guettar5
Countries: Morocco, Egypt, Niger, Tunisia, Algeria, Kenya5
Fossil records: 44 in the Paleobiology Database5
Discovery: The first Spinosaurus fossils were found in Egypt in 1912 and described by German palaeontologist Ernst Stromer in 1915. Those original fossils were destroyed in World War II.1
Still debated: Scientists debate whether Spinosaurus had one or two species, and whether some fossils belong to a different dinosaur called Sigilmassasaurus.1

Where the facts come from

Spinosaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
Spinosaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Spinosaurus: Current Biology (cell.com)
Semiaquatic adaptations in a giant predatory dinosaur | Science (science.org)
Spinosaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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