What is a Spinosaurus?

What is a Spinosaurus?

Spinosaurus (meaning “spine lizard”) is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what now is North Africa, during the upper Albian to upper Turonian stages of the Cretaceous period, about 112 to 93.5 million years ago. This genus was known first from Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1915.

What was the function of Spinosaurus’tail?

Spinosaurus ‘s leg bones had osteosclerosis (high bone density), allowing for better buoyancy control, and the paddle-like tail was likely used for underwater propulsion. Multiple functions have been put forward for the dorsal sail, including thermoregulation and display; either to intimidate rivals or attract mates.

What is the Spinosaurus exhibition in Berlin?

The Spinosaurus exhibition was developed by the National Geographic Society in cooperation with the University of Chicago – it includes a life-size model by Geomodel (Italy). In Berlin, the exhibition will be displayed alongside selected specimens from the collections of the Museum für Naturkunde.

Who is holding the first vertebrae of Spinosaurus?

Cristiano Dal Sasso, Italian Paleontologist (Milan Museum of Natural History), part of the Italian team of the Spinosaurus expedition. Cristiano is holding one of the first—and most complete—caudal vertebrae (tail bones): Caudal 4.

How did Spinosaurus become a celebrity?

Almost exactly one hundred years after it had been named, Spinosaurus had become a celebrity. Nizar Ibrahim and colleagues’ initial conception of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus in the flesh, released to coincide with the publication of their Science paper in 2014.

What happened to Stromer’s original Spinosaurus?

Tragically, however, that original Spinosaurus skeleton—and all of Stromer’s other dinosaur fossils from Egypt—were destroyed during the Second World War, more specifically in a British Royal Air Force bombing of Munich on April 24, 1944.