Spending most of its time swimming in water, the newly discovered Spinosaurus gobbled up sharks and alligators whole. It had paddle-like feet, short, dense leg bones, sealable nostrils that allowed it to swim underwater, massive, backward-slanted cone-shaped teeth, and a huge 6-foot sail on its back that would have risen from the water like a shark’s fin (it somewhat resembled a giant alligator with a long neck). Oh, and it was about ten feet *bigger* than the previous dinosaur king – Tyrannosaurus rex.
The first Spinosaurus was discovered in the Egyptian desert in 1912 but a bombing of Munich, Germany in World War II destroyed the bones before scientists could really study the huge meat-eating dinosaur. Then a new Spinosaurus specimen was discovered in the Sahara desert in 2009 providing scientists the opportunity to study the prehistoric beast in more detail.
Scientists believe the 50-foot-long Spinosaurus probably walked on all fours – it appears to be too top-heavy to walk on two legs. Its dense bones provided it buoyancy and its short back legs helped it paddle in the water. It most likely ate plenty of fish, crocodiles, and anything else unlucky enough to get in its way.
For those that believe this spells the end of the T-Rex reign, we’ve got good news for you. Scientists believe that when Spinosaurus emerged on land, it probably didn’t brawl with other predators – and certainly not with Tyrannosaurus rex. The two species lived continents (and millions of years) apart from one another.