Spinosaurus was first discovered in 1915. However, it was only known from a few bones, so other than the large spines on its back, it wasn’t really known what the rest of it looked like. These original Spinosaurus bones were destroyed during World War II. Later material discovered in the 1990s and early 2000s gave more insight into this Cretaceous predator, including parts of the head that showed its snout was long and narrow like that of a crocodile. This unique head showed that Spinosaurus was related to similar dinosaurs like Suchomimus and Baryonyx, and also hinted that it may have hunted fish. A partial skeleton described in 2014 radically changed the way Spinosaurus was viewed, as it showed very different body proportions than previous reconstructions, including much shorter hind limbs. This new description seemed to indicate that Spinosaurus was more suited to an aquatic lifestyle with a body built for swimming, and may have occasionally walked on four legs instead of two.
Size in inches: 14.17 L x 2.76 W x 398.27 H
Scale: 1:35
