ð SPINOSAURUS: RIVER MONSTER
PAGE 1 OF 5 — RIVER GIANT
RIVER MONSTER
NOT YOUR TYPICAL LAND HUNTER
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus was a giant theropod from Late Cretaceous North Africa, roughly 99 to 93 million years ago. It lived among wide rivers, wetlands, and coasts that are desert today. Many scientists think it spent much of its life in or near water. Its body plan looks part dinosaur, part crocodile, built for a fish-heavy menu. Spinosaurus is often cited as one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs known, though exact length and weight estimates still vary as new bones appear.
ð RIVER LIFE
ð Semi-aquatic lifestyle likely
ð Ate fish, not mainly big land prey
ðïļ North Africa, Late Cretaceous
ð Ate fish, not mainly big land prey
ðïļ North Africa, Late Cretaceous
SPLASH!
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ðī Cretaceous North Africa was greener, with huge rivers full of fish and giant sawfish.
ð Spinosaurus shared these waterways with crocodile-like reptiles and other predators.
ð Spinosaurus shared these waterways with crocodile-like reptiles and other predators.
SIZE
ð Spinosaurus looked like a dinosaur crossed with a crocodile, built for rivers not dry plains.
âĩ Its tall sail and long snout make it one of the most unusual giant predators ever found.
âĩ Its tall sail and long snout make it one of the most unusual giant predators ever found.