WASHINGTON (Sept. 11, 2014)—Scientists today unveiled what appears to be the first truly semiaquatic dinosaur, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus . New fossils of the massive Cretaceous-era predator reveal it adapted to life in the water some 95 million years ago, providing the most compelling evidence to date of a dinosaur able to live and hunt in an aquatic environment. The fossils also indicate that Spinosaurus was the largest known predatory dinosaur to roam the Earth, measuring more than 9 feet longer than the world's largest Tyrannosaurus rex specimen. These findings, published today in the journal Science , are also featured in the October National Geographic magazine cover story available online Sept. 11. In addition, Spinosaurus will be the subject of a new exhibition at the National Geographic Museum, opening Sept. 12, as well as a National Geographic/NOVA special airing on PBS Nov. 5 at 9 p.m.
An international research team — including paleontologists Nizar Ibrahim and Paul Sereno from the University of Chicago; Cristiano Dal Sasso and Simone Maganuco from the Natural History Museum in Milan, Italy; and Samir Zouhri from the Université Hassan II Casablanca in Morocco — found that Spinosaurus developed a variety of previously unknown aquatic adaptations. The researchers came to their conclusions after analyzing new fossils uncovered in the Moroccan Sahara and a partial Spinosaurus skull and other remains housed in museum collections around the world as well as historical records and images from the first reported Spinosaurus discovery in Egypt more than 100 years ago. According to lead author Ibrahim, a 2014 National Geographic Emerging Explorer, "Working on this animal was like studying an alien from outer space; it's unlike any other dinosaur I have ever seen."
The aquatic adaptations of Spinosaurus differ significantly from earlier members of the spinosaurid family that lived on land but were known to eat fish. These adaptations include:
More than a century ago, German paleontologist Ernst Freiherr Stromer von Reichenbach first discovered evidence of Spinosaurus in the Egyptian Sahara. Sadly, all of Stromer's fossils were destroyed during the April 1944 Allied bombing of Munich, Germany. Ibrahim, however, was able to track down Stromer's surviving notes, sketches and photos in archives and at the Stromer family castle in Bavaria to supplement Stromer's surviving publications.
The new Spinosaurus fossils were discovered in the Moroccan Sahara along desert cliffs known as the Kem Kem beds. This area was once a large river system, stretching from present-day Morocco to Egypt. At the time, a variety of aquatic life populated the system, including large sharks, coelacanths, lungfish and crocodile-like creatures, along with giant flying reptiles and predatory dinosaurs.
The most important of the new fossils, a partial skeleton uncovered by a local fossil hunter, was spirited out of the country. As a result, critical information about the context of the find was seemingly lost, and locating the local fossil hunter in Morocco was nearly impossible. Remarked Ibrahim, "It was like searching for a needle in a desert." After an exhaustive search, Ibrahim finally found the man and confirmed the site of his original discovery.
To unlock the mysteries of Spinosaurus , the team created a digital model of the skeleton with funding provided by the National Geographic Society. The researchers CT scanned all of the new fossils, which will be repatriated to Morocco, complementing them with digital recreations of Stromer's specimens. Missing bones were modeled based on known elements of related dinosaurs. According to Maganuco, "We relied upon cutting-edge technology to examine, analyze and piece together a variety of fossils. For a project of this complexity, traditional methods wouldn't have been nearly as accurate."
The researchers then used the digital model to create an anatomically precise, life-size 3-D replica of the Spinosaurus skeleton. After it was mounted, the researchers measured Spinosaurus from head to tail, confirming their calculation that the new skeleton was longer than the largest documented Tyrannosaurus by more than 9 feet. According to Sereno, head of the University of Chicago's Fossil Lab, "What surprised us even more than the dinosaur's size were its unusual proportions. We see limb proportions like this in early whales, not predatory dinosaurs."
Added Dal Sasso, "In the last two decades, several finds demonstrated that certain dinosaurs gave origins to birds. Spinosaurus represents an equally bizarre evolutionary process, revealing that predatory dinosaurs adapted to a semiaquatic life and invaded river systems in Cretaceous North Africa."
The life-size skeletal replica will be the centerpiece of a new exhibition at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, D.C., titled " Spinosaurus : Lost Giant of the Cretaceous." The exhibition, which runs from Sept. 12, 2014, to April 12, 2015, brings to life the story of Spinosaurus , from Stromer's original discoveries to the dedicated efforts of the international research team working to unlock its secrets. For more information on this interactive, multimedia experience developed in collaboration with UChicagoTech, the university's Center for Technology Development & Ventures, visit ngmuseum.org.
The global search to uncover the Spinosaurus skeleton and its mysteries will also be featured in a National Geographic/NOVA special, "Bigger Than T.rex," airing on PBS Nov. 5, 2014, at 9 p.m.
Other authors of the Science paper are David Martill, University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom; Matteo Fabbri, University of Bristol, United Kingdom; Nathan Myhrvold, Intellectual Ventures; and Dawid Iurino, Sapienza Università di Roma in Italy. Important contributors to the making of the digital Spinosaurus include Tyler Keillor, Lauren Conroy and Erin Fitzgerald of the Fossil Lab at the University of Chicago.
About the National Geographic Society
With a mission to inspire people to care about the planet, the 126-year-old National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Working to inspire, illuminate and teach, the member-supported Society reaches over 600 million people worldwide each month through its media platforms, products and events. National Geographic has funded more than 11,000 research, conservation and exploration projects, and its education programs promote geographic literacy. For more information, visit http://www.nationalgeographic.com .
About the University of Chicago
One of the world's premier academic and research institutions, the University of Chicago has driven new ways of thinking since its founding in 1890. Today, University of Chicago is an intellectual destination that draws inspired scholars to its Hyde Park and international campuses, keeping UChicago at the nexus of ideas that challenge and change the world.
About the Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano (Natural History Museum, Milan)
The largest natural history museum in Italy was founded in 1838. It represents a leading institution, with a long tradition in paleontology. In the last two decades, the discovery and study of the first dinosaurs from Italy gave the museum unprecedented international prestige.
NOTE: For photos and video related to the National Geographic Society/University of Chicago Spinosaurus announcement, please contact Claire Gwatkin Jones at (202) 857-7756 or via email at cgjones@ngs.org .
Science