Spinosaurus is a swimming dinosaur with massive aquatic tail

[Ana]

A new fossil of one of the most unusual dinosaurs, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, suggests it was a swimming predator powered by a fin-like tail. The find comes after decades of debate on how much of its life Spinosaurus would have spent in the water, and how reliant they might have been on aquatic prey. Paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim has been working at the dig site in the Sahara and describes his amazement at the unique tail bones they found under the rock and sand.

Tail-propelled aquatic locomotion in a theropod dinosaur - Nature

Discovery that the giant theropod dinosaur Spinosaurus has a large flexible tail indicates that it was primarily aquatic and swam in a similar manner to extant tail-propelled aquatic vertebrates.

www.nature.com

Bizarre Spinosaurus makes history as first known swimming dinosaur
A newfound fossil tail from this giant predator stretches our understanding of how—and where—dinosaurs lived.

Longer than an adult Tyrannosaurus rex, the 50-foot-long, seven-ton predator had a large sail on its back and an elongated snout that resembled the maw of a crocodile, bristling with conical teeth. For decades, reconstructions of its bulky body have ended in a long, narrowing tail like the ones on its many theropod cousins.

The red-brown remains laid before me are altering that picture. These bones assemble into a mostly complete tail, the first yet found for Spinosaurus. It’s so large, five tables are required to support its full length, and to my shock, the appendage resembles a giant bony paddle.

Bizarre Spinosaurus makes history as first known swimming dinosaur

A newfound fossil tail from this giant predator stretches our understanding of how—and where—dinosaurs lived.

www.nationalgeographic.com