Dino card No. 1724 of 2,027

Suchomimus

Say it: SOO-koh-MIME-us

Name means: “crocodile mimic”1

Ate: FishSpinosaursEarly Cretaceous

Suchomimus was a big, fish-eating dinosaur that looked a bit like a crocodile. It had a long, narrow snout full of cone-shaped teeth and a huge claw on each thumb.1

Lived

121 to 100 million years ago4

Early Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Niger, in the Ténéré Desert1 2

Food

Fish1

Length

11 m2

Weight

2.5 tonnes to 5.3 tonnes1

estimates from 2.5, 3.8 to 5.3 metric tons

Height

3.66 m3

at the hip

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How tall was it?

at the hip

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 4 cars

as long as 2.5 cars parked in a rowas long as 61 bananas end to endabout as heavy as an elephantas heavy as 1100 watermelonsas tall as 2 doors stacked up

How big was Suchomimus compared to YOU?

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cool stuff

Fun facts

Suchomimus had a low sail on its back, made from long spines on its vertebrae.1

Its thumb claws were huge and curved, possibly used to hook fish or dig.1

Suchomimus lived about 112 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period.1 2

The first fossils were found in 1997 by a team led by Paul Sereno, and the dinosaur was named in 1998.1

Some scientists think Suchomimus might be the same as another spinosaur called Baryonyx, but most now treat them as separate.1

Suchomimus had hollow bones, which helped it hunt in shallow water without sinking.1

AI-made picture of Suchomimus — An AI-made picture of how Suchomimus 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 Suchomimus

?How big was Suchomimus?

Suchomimus was about 11 metres (36 feet) long and stood about 3.7 metres (12 feet) tall at the hip, which is smaller than the largest Tyrannosaurus rex.2 3

?What did Suchomimus eat?

Suchomimus was a fish-eater, or piscivore. It used its long, crocodile-like snout and cone-shaped teeth to catch fish in shallow water.1 3

?Did Suchomimus have feathers?

No one knows for sure. Suchomimus was a large theropod dinosaur, and while some related dinosaurs had feathers, no fossil feathers have been found with Suchomimus.1

?Could Suchomimus swim?

Suchomimus was adapted for hunting in shallow water, but its hollow bones suggest it could not fully submerge like some other spinosaurs. It likely waded and used its claws to catch fish.1

?Was Suchomimus bigger than T. rex?

Suchomimus was about the same length as Tyrannosaurus rex (about 11 to 12 metres), but T. rex was heavier and more powerfully built.3

?Why did Suchomimus have a sail?

Suchomimus had a low sail on its back made from long spines. Scientists think it was used for display, like to attract mates or signal to others.1 3

?When did Suchomimus live?

Suchomimus lived about 112 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.2 1

?Where was Suchomimus found?

Suchomimus fossils were found in the Ténéré Desert of Niger, Africa, in rocks called the Elrhaz Formation.1 2

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Myth buster

Myth: Some people think Suchomimus could swim underwater like Spinosaurus.

Truth: Science shows Suchomimus had hollow bones and was adapted for shallow water, not for diving deep like Spinosaurus or Baryonyx.1

For dino experts

Scientific name: Suchomimus
Named by: Sereno et al. 19984
Group: Spinosaurs
Family / clade: Spinosauridae4
Classification: Theropoda > Spinosauridae4
Age of the rocks: 121 to 100 million years (Aptian / Albian)4
Rock formations: Elrhaz4
Countries: Niger4
Fossil records: 2 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Suchomimus was discovered in 1997 by a team led by American paleontologist Paul Sereno in the Ténéré Desert of Niger. It was named and described in 1998.1
Still debated: Scientists still debate whether Suchomimus is really a separate genus from Baryonyx or if it should be called Baryonyx tenerensis.1

Where the facts come from

Suchomimus (en.wikipedia.org)
Suchomimus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
Expedition unearths dinosaur fossil (chronicle.uchicago.edu)
Suchomimus 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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