The long - held notion that many non - avian dinosaurs were restricted to telluric environment has been challenged by a well - preserved dodo tail ofSpinosaurus aegyptiacus . The finding , publish this hebdomad in the journalNature , describe the unparalleled body structure of the tail and how this boat paddle - similar appendage would ’ve been the perfect propellent for aquatic hunting , suggesting Spinosaurus is the first cognise swimming dinosaur .
The well - preserved tail of a subadultSpinosaurus aegyptiacuswas found in the 95 - million - year - honest-to-goodness Kem Kem beds in south - eastern Morocco . The fogey reveals thatSpinosaurushad a flexible tail with a serial publication of tall neural spines . The tail would have been able to move laterally to create jabbing , propelling the predatory dinosaur through the pee in a similar agency to the locomotion we see in mod - Clarence Day crocodiles .
The researchers used a automatonlike beat apparatus to model the movement of the find specimen , testing the undulant force make by unlike tail condition . Their results showed that the tail physique ofSpinosauruswas far well equipped for marine environments compared to the quarter physique of telluric dinosaur .
The performance of the simulation indicates the tail was an adaptation to an aquatic lifestyle in keeping with the piscivorous dieting that ’s antecedently been aim forSpinosaurus . The idea that Spinosaurids lead to aquatic environments is not new , as old studies have hint these predatory dinosaurs may have waded in marine surroundings for fish . This new research , however , is the first unambiguous grounds of a specialised hindquarters for moving in water .
Spinosaurids ’ fossil records sweep over 50 million years , but these enormous dinosaur , at around 15 meters in length ( 50 feet ) , are only sleep with from incomplete fossils . Not only that but the most completeSpinosaurusfossil was destroyed during World War II . The specimen constitute by Nizar Ibrahim , from the University of Detroit Mercy , and colleague on this jibe represent the most complete skeleton of a Cretaceous theropod regain to date in mainland Africa .
