The Spinosaurus aegyptiacus was determined to have been the first water-friendly dinosaur, described as being “half duck, half crocodile.”

The Spinosaurus: An Aquatic Dinosaur

The Spinosaurus was a known species for years, but very little was known about the dinosaur other than the supposition that it ate fish and was larger than a Tyrannosaurus rex. After serendipitously receiving a bone from the spine of a Spinosaurus from a nomad, paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim and a team of researchers went to the site in Morocco where the man said he found the bone. There, Ibrahim and his team discovered more fossils, include teeth and jaw pieces. A partial, 36-feet long skeleton was also recovered.

With the bones recovered and some help from researchers around the world, Ibrahim was able to create a 3D model, predicting how the Spinosaurus would have lived. Scientists posit that the Spinosaurus was a four-legged creature, whose flat feet and long snout allowed it to fish for food in water. Nostrils in the middle of its skull allowed the Spinosaurus to breathe while dunking its snout underwater, and paleontologist Paul C Sereno describes the creature as “a cross between an aquatic bird and a crocodile.”

“[This is] the first water-adapted, non-avian dinosaur on record,” Sereno said in a press conference on Wednesday.

On Friday, the National Geographic Museum in Washington will open an exhibit on the Spinosaurus, which includes a model of the dinosaur skeleton. The museum is calling the “SpinoDino” the “largest predatory dinosaur ever,” and scientists estimate that a full grown Spinosaurus weighed around 6 tons, stood 20 feet high and measured over 50 feet in length.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.