Spinosaurus mirabilis discovered: the predator with the scimitar crest
The king of predators, the Spinosaurus, belonged to a much more diverse family than previously thought. This is demonstrated by the discovery of a new species of dinosaur, called Spinosaurus mirabilis, found in the central Sahara in Niger and characterized by a conspicuous scimitar-shaped bony crest on the head, probably covered in keratin and brightly coloured.
The fossil remains of the spinosaurus, dating back to around 95 million years ago, were found in the dunes of the Sahara in a location which, at the time, was over a thousand kilometers from the coast of the Tethys Sea. The discovery emerges from a study published in the journal Science and conducted by an international team led by Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago, with the participation of the Italian paleontologist Filippo Bertozzo of the Royal Museum of Natural Sciences in Brussels.
A surprisingly diverse family of dinosaurs
«Spinosaurus mirabilis highlights the extraordinary biodiversity that characterized the spinosaurid family», explains Bertozzo. The scimitar crest, according to scholars, probably had a visual function linked to social or sexual communication, even if there are no definitive certainties yet.
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus also had a crest, but it was shorter and stockier. In S. mirabilis, however, the structure appears more developed and lanceolate, confirming the high morphological variability within this group of large predatory dinosaurs.
3D analysis and reconstruction of the new spinosaurus
The teeth and bones were examined using computed tomography and subsequently assembled into a digital rendering, which allowed a detailed 3D physical model of the Spinosaurus mirabilis to be created.
“I imagine this dinosaur as a sort of hellish heron, able to advance without difficulty with its robust legs in two meters of water, but which probably spent most of its time in shallower waters searching for large fish,” says Sereno, underlining its possible semi-aquatic habits in the Cretaceous Sahara.
A spinosaurus also adapted to aquatic life
The skull of S. mirabilis is very similar to that of S. aegyptiacus preserved at the Natural History Museum of Milan. «The nostrils are also backwards in the new species and this is an indication of a strong affinity with the aquatic environment», observes paleontologist Cristiano Dal Sasso.
The fact that this spinosaur lived in a forested inland habitat crossed by rivers, in the heart of the ancient Sahara, does not contradict the hypothesis that spinosaurs actively hunted in water, with active swimming, and not just as giant herons lurking along the banks. The discovery of Spinosaurus mirabilis thus reinforces the idea of highly specialized and adaptable predators, protagonists of complex ecosystems in the African Cretaceous.