What's a Spinosaurus? Dinosaurs From Jurassic World: Rebirth

Here at the Imagining History office, we are tremendously excited that the latest installment in the Jurassic movie series, Jurassic World: Rebirth, is coming out this July. And, we thought, why don’t we have a look into the different dinosaurs that will be playing a starring role in the forthcoming blockbuster? So, over the next few weeks, we’ll be investigating the cute Aquilops, the humongous Mosasaurus, the flying fortress known as Quetzalcoatlus, the sky-scraper like Titanosaurus, and the super scary Spinosaurus. So, buckle up, things are gonna get scaly!

Next up on our ride through the dinosaurs of the Jurassic World: Rebirth movie:

Spinosaurus

Imagine coming face to face with this fearsome dude! No thank you! Image courtesy of The Royal Society

Name:

Spinosaurus. It’s name, meaning “Spined Reptile”, came from the spiny sail that grew on it’s back.

Lived:

94 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous Period

Relatives:

Spinosaurus comes from a group of dinosaurs called Spinosauridae. All Spinosauridae walk on two feet and have long, crocodile-like heads. Other Spinosauridae include Baryonyx and Suchomimus.

Size and Weight:

Experts think the Spinosaurus was both longer and heavier than a Tyrannosaurus Rex. From nose to tail, Spinosaurus was around 14-16 metres long. That’s longer than a double decker bus!

Diet:

Spinosaurus was a carnivore (meat-eating dinosaur). Specifically, brainy science people think that Spinosaurus was probably a Piscivore. This means it mostly ate fish. This is because its teeth were long and cone-shaped, perfect for eating fish, instead of curved and blade-shaped like the T-Rex and other land predators. 

Love a splash in the pool? So does the big, chompy Spinosaurus! Image courtesy of Denny Navarra.

Appearance:

Spinosaurus had a long narrow skull, a bit like a crocodile but with its nostrils up near its eyes instead of on the end of its snout. Recently, brainy scientists have worked out that Spinosaurus actually had quite short legs and a wide tail that worked a bit like a paddle. Because of this, experts now believe Spinosaurus probably spent a lot of time swimming around in water.

What was that big back sail for? Paragliding off tall mountain tops? Probably not. Image courtesy of ABelov2014.

Back Sail:

One of the main features of the Spinosaurus is its “sail”. This sail was made up of lots of long spines jutting out from its back, probably connected together by a thin layer of skin. Experts can’t really agree on what Spinosaurus used this sail for. Some think Spinosaurus used the sail to stay cool when its body got too hot, or as a display to attract a mate. Some experts think the sail may have been used like the fin of a fish to help it move through water. There are also theories that the sail looked more like the hump of a camel and could have been used to store water.