Predatory dinosaur was larger than T. rex, went for swims

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Red and orange bones represent either the original Egyptian find or the new skeleton. Yellow bones come from other animals. Only the blue and green bones had to be inferred based on other species.

Model by Tyler Keillor, Lauren Conroy, and Erin Fitzgerald, Ibrahim et al., Science/AAAS

The predatory dinosaur Spinosaurus aegyptiacus isn't famous, but it might have been. Discovered in Egypt in 1912, it had all the ingredients to make for a childhood favorite: enormous size, sharp teeth, and a huge, enigmatic sail running down its back. But the study of Spinosaurus suffered a serious interruption when the only bones of the creature happened to be underneath the payload of a British bomber targeting Munich.

Now, roughly 70 years later, Spinosaurus is back thanks to some additional samples discovered in Morocco. These, combined with images of the original skeleton and a handful of scattered bones found in the intervening years, appear to indicate the creature was a rarity for dinosaurs. It was adapted to an aquatic lifestyle and probably used its jaws and claws to snare fish.

The new skeletal remains include parts of the head, the spinal column, limbs, and extensive remains of the tail. It was found in a fossil bed called Kem Kem, which preserves the remains of a freshwater river system including various fish and sharks. The authors created a 3-D scan of the individual bones and, by filling in the gaps with bones scaled up or down from other samples or close relatives, created a complete model of the animal's skeleton. In total, the animal appears to have been 15 meters (nearly 50 feet) long, which would make it larger than any known Tyrannosaurus skeleton.

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