Spinosaurus - grotesque dinosaurs: hunt fish like gods that can't swim!

At least that's what science has discovered, after a long time thinking it can swim.

The whole world is still sure that Spinosaurus (also known as thorny lizard) is a dinosaur that eats fish, swim so well that it is almost always underwater. Archaeologists even use their fossil bones in a swimming position.

Exactly since 2014, after the paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim released a video about the most massive Cretaceous, Spinosaurus carnivorous dinosaurs on National Geographic, arguing that Spinosaurus was a swimmer, primarily devoted to When we hunt in the country, we always believe in it.

Spinosaurus loves to eat fish.

But, "Science is always complementary and adaptive" and that is also true for the case of this dinosaur.

In case you don't know about it, live in North Africa about 97-112 million years ago. This dinosaur species has a body length of 12.6 - 18m and weighs about 7 - 20.9 tons.

Spinosaurus has a giant fin like a sail on its back. Some researchers believe that it is the body temperature regulator of Spinosaurus. Some said, it was just a "show of prestige" to threaten other species.

Spinosaurus skull is long and narrow, similar to the head of a crocodile. Its jaw can expand, tighten sharp teeth, very suitable for fishing. Fish scales are also found in the fossil Spinosaurus stomach. Perhaps that's why Ibrahim speculated that this dinosaur was swimming very well.

Spinosaurus has a giant fin like a sail on its back.

Only thing, "How does Spinosaurus swim, catch prey in the water, it is still a complicated thing that scientific research has to be done," - Ibrahim admitted himself.

While everyone believes in Ibrahim's hypothesis, Don Henderson, another researcher, is skeptical. And to solve his question or answer, he manually built 3D Spinosaurus models on computers.

"Science is always complementary and regulating" - Henderson explains. Then, he discovered the big gap in Ibrahim's hypothesis and confidently challenged: "If Ibrahim can't argue with my evidence, then, as a result of the test, Spinosaurus will drown if he gets into the water."

Because: " The structure of the Spinosaurus body is not suitable for swimming or diving" - palaeontologist Tom Holtz (who did not participate in experimental research with Henderson's group) said.

The reasons why Spinosaurus will drown if deep down

What's interesting is that Henderson built the Spinosaurus 3D model based on the Spinosaurus dinosaur bone model in Ibrahim's video.

First of all, Henderson supposes Spinosaurus can swim. However, since Spinosaurus is not a breath-taking species in the water, it must definitely swim in a position to hold its head above the water.

The results show that Spinosaurus can do this. For one thing, it doesn't outperform the Tyrant or Baryonyx dinosaurs.

However, what Henderson especially noticed was that the ledge was several feet high and weighed hundreds of pounds on Spinosaurus' back. According to him, with that great "sail" , whether this dinosaur or bone or meat is thicker, denser, heavier than before, they are still unable to balance themselves while underwater. Land is fine, because the ground is very tough.

The reason is very simple and logical. It is that "sail" that will tilt left and right, arbitrarily, forcing Spinosaurus to go crazy to balance. If Spinosaurus was floating on the water, even the wind became a nuisance. And if it is diving in the water, what makes it difficult can be water flow.

If Spinosaurus was floating on the water, even the wind became a nuisance.

In addition, Henderson paid close attention to the Spinosaurus limbs . They have small, short front legs and long, large hind legs. The focus of Spinosaurus is thus driven back instead of in the middle.

Most of today's semi-aquatic species, such as turtles or crocodiles, have all undergone evolution to achieve complete balance. As a result, they do not need to struggle to find a balance when entering the water. But with the lower half animal heavier than the upper half like Spinosaurus, "Keeping your balance in the water is not something it can" - Henderson concluded.

Therefore, it was enough to keep Spinosaurus hard and miserable, just to say something about food.

Not knowing how to swim doesn't mean catching fish

Henderson's statement immediately flew to Ibrahim. Ibrahim happily accepted, but also expressed some doubts. He analyzed that Henderson's 3D model is not based on the true bone structure of Spinosaurus, but only based on the outline in the old video since 2014. And the computer is not always right. Because our source of ancient organisms is incomplete.

Spinosaurus does not need to swim and still catch fish.

"Still more modeling is needed based on real Spinosaurus fossils" - Ibrahim explained. "Above all, the truth lies in the skeleton, not in the computer."

Ibrahim further argued that Spinosaurus could only consider going into the water for a short time. Therefore, its body has not yet evolved to adapt to its stability in the water. And even though it may struggle to swim, it doesn't mean it can't swim.

David Hone, another paleontologist, has another idea, saying that this dinosaur doesn't necessarily swim."Heron does not swim well, but still spends most of her time wading around with her long stoop" - he pointed out.

It is not unreasonable to say that Spinosaurus doesn't need to swim and catch fish. Because they are very tall. And with that giant body, they just wade in the shallow water. Or sitting on the shore and watching, when the fish swim near, they dive down to bite.