Was Spinosaurus a Good Swimmer?
The giant dinosaur with the sail on its back is thought to have had a lifestyle similar to crocodiles
Cretaceous Park
In the movie Jurassic Park III, the bad beast is no longer the T. rex as it was is in the previous movies. Instead, its even meaner cousin Spinosaurus becomes the bane of the hunted humans.
Spinosaurus, first discovered in 1912, actually lived in the Cretaceous period (as did Tyrannosaurus, but I suppose Cretaceous Park didn’t sound that cool).
Spinosaurus is a great movie dinosaur. It’s large (possibly around 15 to 16 meters), mean-looking with its crocodile snout, and — unlike T. rex’ twigs — has powerful arms with big, clawed digits. The distinctive neural spines on its back, up to 1.65m long, are thought to have supported a sail of skin.
A villain for the ages.
What’s with the sail, though?
Several hypotheses have been put forward — which need not be mutually exclusive, the sail could have been used for many purposes. Evolution is a great tinkerer.
- Maybe the sail served to intimidate other animals, making Spinosaurus look even bigger than it was.
- Maybe it was used for thermoregulation, to…
