THE Spinosaurus BY : JONATHAN VARGAS CLASS 703 4/29/2009

Spinosaurus Spinosaurus About Spinosaurus Both one of the largest, and also one of the strangest of the Dinosaur age, Spinosaurus had a long slender snout, and large sail on its back. Spinosaurus was originally discovered in Egypt in the early 1900s. The original fossils were destroyed however, in a bombing raid during World War II. The long snout of Spinosaurus may have been used to catch fish. Some scientists believe that Spinosaurus was a scavenger, using its alligator shaped mouth to eat the soft flesh of rotting animal carcasses. Spinosaurus'' sail was not unique. During the time period in which it lived, many other dinosaurs had sails, including just about every major type or group of Dinosaurs. What were these sails used for? Dinosaurs were, for the most part, cold-blooded animals. This means that they could not regulate their body temperature. When the whether outside cooled down, so did the body's of these large animals. Sails may have been used to catch sunlight, and warm the blood Spinosaurus as well as other animals with sails.

Spinosaurus Spinosaurs are feet meters Spiosaurs eat Large Animals

Spinosaurus Spinosaurus 95,000,000 Years Ago. The period that Spinosaurus live was in the

Spinosaurus Spinosaurs DIET: Carnivore meat-eater. Spinosaurus probably ate plant-eating dinosaurs and large fish. Incomplete fossils have been found, including blade-like neural spines up to 6 feet (1.8 m) long. The original fragmentary fossil specimen from Egypt (found in 1912) was destroyed in World War 2.

Spinosaurus Spinosaurus live? Egypt, Africa the name Spinosaurus mean Spiny Reptile

The Spinosaurus Habitat The Spinosaurus Habitat In North Africa Most spinosaurus finds have been from the Sahara Desert in North Africa. Finds have also been reported from South America. Morocco has produced more than its fair share of spinosaur skeletons. About 100 million years ago in the early part of the Cretaceous Period when spinosaurs walked the earth North Africa was much more a tropical climate than at present. There were rivers, lakes, and wetlands in what is now the Sahara Desert.

Spinosaurus Teeth Spinosaurus had a long snout. Its jaws were full of long sharply pointed teeth. Unlike the T-Rex, spinosaur teeth are not serrated but smooth and round along the length. Because the upper and lower teeth interlock much like a crocodile some researchers believe that spinosaurs ate fish

What’s In A Name The name spinosaurus means “spiny lizard”. This comes from the large spines that extend from the vertebrae along its back. These spines could be up to six feet long. It is commonly thought that these spines were covered by a membrane of skin to form a sail like fin. This may have been used to help regulate body heat. There is some evidence to suggest that the sail was able to be extended or at least partially collapsed.

. What was Spinosaurus like Spinosaurus was thought to be as long as Tyrannosaurus rex but with a more slender body. Its most striking feature was its tall skin "sail" down its back, held aloft by bony spines. These were about 1.6 metres tall. The new evidence and the records of the original find suggest that the animal had a long, low skull with a kinked snout very similar to Baryonxy. The spines of the animal were very flat and bladelike. To this day, no other dinosaur specimen has been found with such extremely tall neural spines.

What was the function of Spinosaurus' Sail Although classically thought to be a device for regulating body temperature I, personally, don't subscribe to this theory. As a means for heating the blood its very clumsy. It also implies that this dinosaur was cold-blooded and would have had to carefully position itself in the sunlight. If this was true it might have severely overheated if it fell asleep in the afternoon sun! My belief is that, as with all known peripheral adornments, it was sexual. It would have been used to make the animal look bigger both for attracting a mate and frightening opponents. Perhaps the skin across the surface had such a profusion of blood vessels that it could "flush" its colour, creating vivid patterns that were alluring to the females. A Peacock's tail plume is a modern-day comparison

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