Spinosaurus Couldn't Dive

Spinosaurus has gone through a ton of changes in the last few years, mostly cycling back and fourth between being an underwater hunter, and feeding more like a heron. This paper sought to find an answer with a more comprehensive study of the animal.
Read the Paper here:
journals.plos....
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[@oberonpanopticon]

I read the title as “Spinosaurus couldn’t drive” and was like “well, this’ll be interesting”

[@ChristianDinosaur1616]

Same

[@shidanslair]

LOL 😂

[@Hank39]

I’m wouldn’t be surprised if it could at this point

[@oceanmareart]

I DID THE SAME THING

[@tomerorlevi1673]

New study reveals that spinosaurus not only could drive, but new fossils revealed it was actually a nascar driver. Still couldn't dive though

[@blazingtrs6348]

next news: spinosaurus sail is actually muscle attachment points for a pair of dragon wings

[@rolandixor]

They were.

[@doragonzx]

Ibrahim use Counter argument : Spinosaurus used those wings to swim

[@theangrysuchomimus5163]

At this point I wouldn't be surprized if another paper gets publish later which claims spinosaurus' air sacs were used like a scuba diver's gas tank.

[@tyrannycall9754]

"Be careful for what you wish for parker" doctor strange.

[@TheReZisTLust]

Imagine it was purely for mating lol

[@80spianist16]

Spinosaurus really is the never-ending story for paleontology... cant wait to hear its legs were too small and weak to walk on land though in a few months lol.

[@DestructorN7]

I think there is already a paper claiming that

[@MrKingkz]

I was going to put this@@DestructorN7

[@IvanRingle]

@@DestructorN7Jesus Christ lol. Since Scientists can’t make up their minds about the Spinosaurus I’m gonna continue to believe it can swim under water until further notice lol.

[@Bullboy_Adventures]

I'm surprised spino had disproportionately tiny legs, and almost everyone just says: yup, no problem here.

[@mario927265]

already happened, however it seems if we split the spino into different species or genus it seems to fix the problem if i remember since a lot of the papers lump a bunch of stuff as Spinosaurus, it would help if the skeleton of the specimen that had the strange paddle shape sail was studied, the spines are so weird and different its clear its something different. pretty much in a nutshell its because they used different specimens and acted as if there all the same species and if we split the spino up it would fix this whole spino is to heavy to exist.

[@evelynlamoy8483]

My current bet is semi-aquatic. Denser bones to counterbalance the buoyancy of the airsacks to help give them more stable footing in shallow waters, if a sudden wave bumps into them.

[@WeAreInYourWall]

Yeah neutral buoyancy is actually good for diving

[@2l84t]

Sounds like a shallow water ambush predator with the tail neutrally bouyant for additional thrust.

[@swedneck]

honestly just feels like spinosaurus is the pokemon evolution of an alligator

[@imbored3416]

Wouldnt it make the most sense for Spinosaurus to have struck a balance between loons/ducks and Herons then? Both wading on the shorelines and swimming along the surface of the waters, then making an effort to dive for prey before letting buoyancy take it back up?

[@themasterofmonsters309]

That's how I've been looking at it as well.

[@aff77141]

But that would mean both sides are right, and one HAS to be Wrong ™!!! 1!1!

[@themasterofmonsters309]

I just look at goats. They're definitely not built for some of the things they do, but do it anyway

[@imbored3416]

@@aff77141 yeah that's the dumb thing about the studies, they're just trying to prove each other wrong out of stubbornness rather than reach a scientific consensus.

[@Lemas...]

​@@imbored3416 That's a pretty bold accusation. Perhaps they're just trying to learn more about Spinosaurus, and different approaches have lead different scientists to reach different conclusions?

[@JaredHight-g4e]

The spines on its back actually supported a helium balloon, and the rudder like tail propelled it through the air. We can find no complete skeletons because they always violently crashed or decayed while floating for several weeks and spreading their bones across a large area.

[@monkofkrayak6235]

That's such a stupid idea. The spines are clearly used to burrow underground, similar to the graboids in the tremor films.

[@lwdrd]

​@@monkofkrayak6235I love both of you

[@toragon2736]

​@@lwdrd😂😂😂

[@Shellvine-draws]

⁠@@monkofkrayak6235nah bruh they were clearly used for charging up an atomic breath and the “air sacs” are actually where the radiation comes through

[@differous01]

If Spinosaurus hunted like a heron then its sail would've given it a tree-like profile, inviting fish to shelter under it. It's big enough not to need the long legs of a wading bird, but had a gait like a duck (a very buoyant bird) suggesting an ability to paddle, if not swim underwater like one.

[@aff77141]

Exactly my thoughts. There's a famous bird that spreads its wings out over its face almost like an umbrella, to attract fish as well as better see them without the glare of sunlight. If there was no other purpose, the spine would at least be useful for that

[@shidanslair]

I love Spinosaurus for how much we still have to understand about it. Thanks for awaking my enthusiasm for paleontology!

[@Itsjustme-Justme]

We seem to be coming back to what I first thought when I saw that strange anatomy. It most likely was a semi-aquatic ambush predator. Not like a crocodile that mainly eats terrestrial animals when they come to drink from a lake (the sail would warn them from far away), but a fish hunter. It was able to swim efficiently to be able to reach every spot of a lake that it liked, it was easily able to cross rivers and so on. The sail is a body heat regulation device, helping to maintain a body temperature higher than the water temperature while lurking half-submerged in the water without needing to burn too much energy.

[@macgonzo]

If they were swimming on the surface, their sail might make them prone to being blown to the side by the wind. Air sacs on top and dense bones towards their lower body areas would make them more stable in these kinds of scenarios. Just thinking out loud.

[@kal7160]

It's honestly gonna take a time machine that lets paleontologists go back in time and see a spino dive in the water or not before this will ever get resolved, isn't it?

[@GenghisDon1970]

YES

[@edgargaebolg9307]

What if that happened but the real Spino was so different we couldn't recognize it tho

[@scvnthorpe__]

From what I remember the hind limbs were still atrophied relative to more basal spinosaurs, so Im wondering what the jury is on that. Honestly Im a fan of my own unhinged hypothesis, the 'flesh sailboat'. With a large sail and a stiff rudder I can see that being a means of surface swimming.

[@rayray2131]

Yay, our favorite spine lizard changes behavior again If a paper would state that Spinosaurus was able to fly and to breath fire, I would totally believe it

[@kevingluys3063]

It could breath fire, and it used it to heat its air sacs to achieve flight.

[@TheBrewster320]

Ibrahim also posted a response to the paper already stating he’s got new material he’s working on that is in favor of aquatic Spino… at this point we should just toss him and Sereno in a pit with their choice of melee weapon and let them go at it 😅

[@DinoFer-is7kf]

do you have a link or screenshot of it's response?

[@Bullboy_Adventures]

I feel like im the only that thinks spinosaurus could not even walk on land with those disproportionately short legs and front heavy build. Like, HOW? its almost like spinosaurus breaks the laws of physics itself.

[@aff77141]

That's becauae there's real animals like that who do just fine. Reality doesn't particularly care what we think the laws of physics are, it does what works

[@Bullboy_Adventures]

@@aff77141 name them, cause I can't think of a single animal that's as big as spinosaurus, and walks on two legs

[@baeuy5019]

T-Rex, Charcharodontosaurus (if that's how it's spelled), Giganotosaurus, Gigantoraptor, essentially all the big theropods, Giant ground sloths, Moas, and some others.

[@sablesaber5930]

My theory is that Spinosaurus lived rather similarly to hippos. They mostly wadded in the water, with some cumbersome swimming. They may have hunted similar to a crocodile where they would lunge out of the water. But would utilize their limbs to possibly run in short bursts after launching from the water. So potentially able to achieve two bursts of speed, one launching out of the water, then a short distance sprint after launching out of the water. However, by their size and weight, this would also be too high of an energy cost, which is why this is only speculation

[@Jaqoum_The_Wizard_King]

A yes, another paper that days “Spinosaurus is *weirder* than we thought and we still have no idea why”

[@marilcho2664]

ACABA PELO AMOR DE DEUS,ACABAAAAA (Brazilian meme to express what i feel everytime a new Spino att shows up)

[@thorshammer8033]

For a second I though it said Drive, and i was like no shit

[@RaptorChatter]

Spinosaurus Verstappen

[@artificercreator]

Yes! More Spino News! So Fun! Thanks for the news!

[@dv9239]

Spinosaurus is the owl of dinosaurs Always something new with these guys

[@jasonseymour4235]

Firstly, I love that this debate exists, and honestly, I really hope it continues. In my opinion, we are learning more about dinosaurs and their lifestyles, aquatic or otherwise, than we would be without it. On that note, and as a however, one thing always puzzles me, why do none of these studies look at penguins, but instead, always look at diving birds? As far as we know to date, penguins were the first and only truly aquatic dinosaurs to exist. This is information we know. Why are they never considered? It is always diving birds, most of which are accomplished fliers. Flight in air requires very different adaptations than swimming through water, as an actual lifestyle. These adaptations very specifically affect the skeleton in ways that would negatively affect a true aquatic animal. Penguins exist, why don't they ever come into play? To be clear, I'm sure someone has at some point compared Spinosaurus to penguins, but I just feel like they should be considered in every Spinosaurus study, not just "sporadically" mentioned. On some level, they are competing for the same title, first aquatic dinosaur. Just for that, they should always be in the forefront of these studies. Just an amateur novice asking what feels like an obvious question, forgive me if there is some blatant reason I'm not seeing it. Maybe I just need to look harder... 😉

[@aff77141]

Lots of archaeologists have this issue. If they mention extant animals as reference at all, they refuse to mention more than a few that are relevant to their ongoing hypothesis. Part of this is likely to do with funding, but imo there's no reason in their personal time with the knowledge they have they shouldn't be able to do some light comparison

[@aff77141]

At this point, I just take whatever I see about spinosaurus and believe what I wanna believe up to and including that it had a manmade laser on its forehead, it'll eventually be correct for about 5 months

[@terrypitt-brooke8367]

This is my kindergarten observation on Spinosaurus: its limbs seem very undersized, especially the hind limbs, which in a therapod bear the weight of the animal. I can't see this beast running on land, much less plunging through water up to the hips. So what did it do? If it just stood by the side of the water, a hugely long neck a la tanystropheus would be a much better adaptation. When I was a kid, the "sauropods were so heavy, they needed to spend all their time in the water just to support the weight" theory was still in full force. Well here's the singular animal that to me seems to call for that theory.

[@terrykrugii5652]

The idea of spinosaurus sitting on, basically, the bottom of a river, waiting for its prey to come to it like a croc probably would. It fits what I already had percieved of the animal in my head. Not being able to dive is a surprise, sure, but it seems the animal was large enough to just wade through most bodies of water it would occupy anyway

[@RaptorChatter]

I agree with the wading idea. People like to say that it's impossible because it had relatively short legs compared to other theropods, but its head would have still be 5+ meters high above the ground. It could wade just fine.

[@terrykrugii5652]

@@RaptorChatter plus most bodies of drinkable water were likely as deep as they are today back then, so it's far from unlikely

[@RaptorChatter]

The biggest problem with that idea right now is there's very little work on the Kem Kem Group, which if that sort of sedimentology was done it could hint at some of those features in the environment.

[@adamthespinygiant]

Why can’t they just say that Spiny is semi-aquatic? To me, there’s evidence for both sides. It seems that scientists just like arguing with each other.

[@robertstone9988]

Spino centrist 😂

[@bennettfender9927]

A lot of it is a way to get attention 🤷‍♂️.

[@__-be1gk]

Bold argumentative clai.s are the only way to get funding

[@shidanslair]

I think Spinosaurus semi-acuatic nature is already accepted, but it's an animal full of mystery, because of the few parts we have from it, and there're some fisical aspects suggesting we still don't comprehend very much about Spinosaurus. If the reason would be that "scientists like arguing" why we don't see the scientists this divided about T-Rex for example? (The most famous dinosaur). Scientific investigation wouldn't have place in the world if we already comprehend everything.

[@DJuuJ]

Semi aquatic is a tricky term, there are animals like crocodilians, capybaras, penguins, hippos, seals, beavers, amphibians and etc, all of them semi aquatic in one way or another, the discussion is not if Spinosaurus was semi aquatic or not, but how semi aquatic it was

[@DukeandEnzo]

I read this as spinosaurus couldn’t jive. My imagination went wild

[@monkofkrayak6235]

Scandalous!

[@ishill85]

i imagine them at this point as being like giant swans, floating around and snagging any fish that comes too close.

[@RaptorChatter]

Very reasonable take

[@TheoVorster]

So if I am understanding correctly, the current consensus/evidence on Spinosaurus seems to agree that while Spinosaurus likely wasn’t a aquatic diving pursuit predator, it still would at least be considered a semi-aquatic striking predator, correct? Putting it in a similar category/niche of some fresh-water turtles, dabbling ducks/birds, I guess? And while it wouldn’t have swam for pursuing prey, it would have still swam significantly better than other primarily terrestrial theropods for traversal around its habitat right?

[@calebthomas1453]

What if it hunted not like a heron, not a crocodile... but a white pelicon!?!?!?

[@nicktheloser2974]

Thank you for the nightmares.

[@CryptoJordanVR]

A while back I had the idea that spinosaurus likely was more of a floater. Sticking to shallows and only ever swimming if it actually had to cross bodies of water. Think of it doggy paddling or duck paddling.

[@patrick_j_lee]

It's been just about a decade since the publishing of the neotype and the swimming Spino hypothesis in September 2014, so it's fitting that a new paper arguing against this hypothesis was published this year.

[@DangerousFacts48]

All the other spinosaurids fed like herons. Why would Spinosaurus be any different?

[@grahamstrouse1165]

I probably shouldn’t have go here but you also have to consider the source. Sereno & Ibrahim co-authored the 2014 paper that posited a swimming Spino. Paul Sereno is a scientist’s scientist. He’s perfectly willing to look ideas but when the data doesn’t for the initial hypothesis he’ll come out & say it, which he eventually did, btw. He was the lead author on the late 2022 paper that said that Spinosaurus would not have been able to swim well. Ibrahim is the paleontological equivalent of a Pick Me Girl. He loves attention. If that mean doubling down on shaky ideas so be it.

[@jrbaxterstockman548]

Calling it now, Spinosaurus lived and hunted like a modern duck that looked like a massive crocodile monster. Given its place on the cladistic tree it's fully possible although currently completely unreasonable that it was similarly covered in specialized waterproof feathers. Friendly reminder: Irritator is Brazilian!

[@speedb.bernard5404]

I haven't watched the video yet, but I can be almost 100% sure that what ever this guy said will be inacurite in about 5 or so months

[@tylerjones7592]

More like a week

[@whiteegretx]

Doubt

[@rolandixor]

Spinosaurus had laser vision

[@johnh539]

I think I had an Insight into Spinosaurus derived from my fish keeping. I only use black nets because when a fish censes movement they instinctively dive for cover I discovered that if I use black nets the fish often dive into it instead of doing anything to stay away from it as they do with a white one. especially if you use two a stationery black net and a "Spooker" . My theory is that they probably even had favoured perches' . I see them on the sunward side of the water (River ? pool? ) with only their tails in or at the water and their fins casting a shadow over the surface., they then waited till the fish are in a place where a movement of its tail they would choose the shaded aria provided by its fins, as with any herding it's about when to press and when to hold back. then as the new research shows their particularly flattened mouths would provide the least resistance to a side swipe into the water. where with a bit of skill right before it strikes it can really pressure the fish into a ball in its own shadow.

[@c.r.blankenship9040]

My guess? It swam like a duck

[@bignelly9476]

Up next Spinosauras spines we’re actually used to store nuclear energy and could fire consented microwave beams like Godzilla.

[@zddxddyddw]

Hi Raptor, the discovery of the largest Mesozoic mammal in Argentina was just revealed a few days ago! Could you make a video about that? Thanks, and keep up the great work!

[@ian.r5261]

can't...resist...to...sing...the...song...

[@Tuishimi]

Spinosaurus, dinosaur of intrigue.

[@1998topornik]

Spinosaurus saga continues

[@mpk6664]

Ive never seen spinosaurus as a diving animal. I imagine it as similar to a crocodile wading at the surface. I imagine a huge sail would make it difficult to maneuver underwater, but would be fantastic for wading. The sail can be used for exactly what it's name implies... Sailing. And with a large rudder on the back and heavier bones on the bottom half of the body, stability wouldn't be an issue because of the lower CoM. I'd think we'd find the CoM to be below the center of buoyancy if someone looked.

[@floweryomi5351]

Have they ever compared Spino's air sacs to water fowl? Like it's definitely not likely that they'd be a floating snapping predator but at this point we're running out of options for this guy

[@floweryomi5351]

Also, is it possible that it had larger airways to help hold breath underwater??

[@RaptorChatter]

They did this with water fowl. Diving waterfowl, had overall less pneumaticity, they had few air sacs relative to their size.

[@RaptorChatter]

Maybe. It likely spent some time with it's head underwater, but likely not the whole body. It also seems like these air sacs are pretty ancestral to all theropods, so they might not even be for that.

[@williansnobre]

With that size it didn't need to dive for long, it could float on the surface and only do quick power dives to catch something, and then float back up, or it could just reach deeper with the neck while still floating like a duck.

[@RaptorChatter]

But it literally couldn't produce the the thrust needed to get down, even for a little bit.

[@williansnobre]

@@RaptorChatter Come on, it did not walk on water as if it was concrete, it could dunk its head down and the body was pretty long. No need to dive too deep if you can reach.

[@whiteegretx]

I'm not even convinced that spinosaurus swam at all.

[@RaptorChatter]

It lived along a large river, so it would be odd for it not to swim. However it doesn't seem to have relied on swimming well as a major part of its lifestyle.

[@whiteegretx]

@@RaptorChatter - It might be odd given it's habitat, but not extraordinarily so. I have no doubt it got it's feet wet (literally and figuratively) but full-on swimming seems unlikely given it's morphology (in my not-so-expert opinion). Then again, elephants swim quite well and they almost never have a reason to.

[@monkofkrayak6235]

Of course it didn't. It flew.

[@aff77141]

​@@monkofkrayak6235 Actually, due to the dense bones, air sacs, and strange legs, the newest hypothesis is that it burrowed underground, using the sail to prevent cave ins, the legs to dig, and the air sacs to keep good oxygen flow - -

[@RaptorChatter]

Most animals can swim, not necessarily often, but they do. Look at the top predator of the Amazon, the Jaguar. They get wet and swim, and even hunt in the water. I also don't think anyone would call them aquatic hunters though.

[@McDagger24]

Could the sail have been used to block glare and see fish in water easier?

[@RaptorChatter]

That's a perfectly reasonable idea, though hard to test. Based on other theropods display structures weren't rare, so it's more likely it was for display. That said I also think that the idea of it lining up like slender-snouted crocodiles have been reported to do is an idea I like. They essentially line up perpendicular to the bank of a river, and use their tail to corral fish around them, using the bank, the torso, and the tail to create a 3 sided box fish congregate in. Then it can pivot and strike at them. Also hard to test for, but an interesting idea.

[@bernardfinucane2061]

My totally unscientific guess is that it has a stragety not seen in modern animals, and that is confusing everybody. Maybe it swam along the surface of deep water and stuck it head in like a heron (or something). It's so much bigger than anything it gets compared to (except whales, which obviously have a very different lifestyle) that finding a good analogy will be hard.

[@KurNorock]

As I've been saying for over a decade, spinosaurus was not a land predator. It wasn't a swimming pursuit predator. It didn't dive, and it probably couldn't walk on two legs for any significant amount of time. It could swim, but only on the surface and for the purposes of travel, not hunting. It was a shallow water, wading, quadrupedal predator that struck at fish and small animals like a heron.

[@BartJBols]

I believe Spinosaurus could do anything it would put its mind to.

[@theneef174]

Okay so like How would scientists know if, say, a hippo, was aquatic, from just looking at it?

[@Daily-PE]

From the looks of it, spinosaurus is between the two sides, still a really good swimmer, but couldn't dive. It makes sense why the arm bones are so dense. Spino probably lived like a duck or even goose.

[@thenerdbeast7375]

I'm starting to feel like America didn't try hard enough to obliterate this thing from human knowledge when they bombed Berlin, I'm legit starting to get pissed off at Spinosaurus.

[@oorzuis1419]

the only thing the kame on its back aims at is a power base to move in water. (aggressive strike aid)

[@j.l.emerson592]

So... spinosaurus CAN drive???

[@tofuteh2348]

I dont get people who find updates and changes on spinosaurus to be a pain or something to groan about. Isnt it something to be celebrated in paleontology?

[@RaptorChatter]

For me it's not so much the papers as it is the online dialogue about the changes, which over the last 10 years of the same points being brought up, papers doing math to prove their side, and the non-professional dinosaur fanbase doubling down has been a bit exhausting.

[@Bread-Sliced]

In 3 years from now someone is going to say that Spino could fly.

[@TylerHarris-yy7uf]

Obviously Spinofaa- I mean Spinosaurus... was adept enough to visit the Titanic AND the Mariana Trench! At the same time!!!

[@kevenharvey9711]

So, it couldn't dive, while holding a full breath...

[@Deform-2024]

They didn't apply the high density to other parts of the body, despite cross sections saying otherwise. Not convinced in the slightest.

[@patreekotime4578]

Duck dino that swims but doesnt dive is my bet. Uses the sail for temperature control while hanging out in water all day.

[@kevingluys3063]

What if the spines were for muscles to compress air sacs to be dense enough for it to sink? So that it could sink and dive without expendiing the same effort as swiming up and down? Large fish usually like deeper water, so what if it was able to compete with the predators of the shore by just floating out to the middle of the lake, compressing its air sacs to descend onto the era's equivalent of sturgeon and catfish, snatch them and relax its air sacs to float back up to the surface? Basically using its air sac system like a swim bladder? Maybe the back spines were so big because they had to change buoyancy, and the long tail was less variable, so it would sink its front end down to snatch prey from the bottom, then inflate to swing back up. Alternatively, it had those big grabby hands. What if it used them to carry a big rock?

[@RaptorChatter]

As far as we can tell there were no muscle attachments on the sail. It would have needed a large supply of blood for those muscles, and the structures to support that blood flow just don't exist.

[@kevingluys3063]

@@RaptorChatterAh. darn. But he could still dive if he held a big rock with his grabby hands and then dropped it when he caught a big fish. Also could have eaten rocks to achieve neutral buoyancy.

[@RaptorChatter]

Hopefully there will be a sedimrntiology paper on the site the new specimen was found in. If a bunch of rocks turn up in its belly that would be great support of the idea!

[@Yanis-fl6nt]

And 10 years later we see BBC spinosaurus is the correct in 2034

[@chheinrich8486]

I would be surprised if spinosaurus had that tail because it was able to dive only we it was young, so that it didn’t compete with the adult directly and never lost the tail

[@oucyan]

I think it most definitely swam. It most likely used the tail for the bulk of aquatic propulsion like crocodilians. whether it could dive or not, is up for debate as for hunting, the presence of those large air sacs make me think it used both a wading strategy, and a float strategy. by float strategy, I mean that it just kinda hung there, floating at the surface pretending to be a log until a fish swam by where it would lash out with it's claws or mouth to grab it. These are only my thoughts on someone uneducated in paleontology though.

[@spaalqutsi]

Could a sail help with keeping them warm well wadding in the waters?

[@RaptorChatter]

Potentially, but it would have been a warm enviroment, and they were also likely endotherms, warmblooded.

[@shleaumeau7740]

The long-awaited prequel to White Men Can't Jump

[@evanlephrog7337]

Duh It was a land predator, with neck muscles attached to the sail. It used it's conical teeth and grabby jaw to grab and yeet lesser creatures.

[@bowlingvanjapan4099]

Speculation on whether a spinosaurus could dive or not based on anatomy discounts an unknown variable. It has a brain and likely some ability to learn behavior. So unless it was boyuent like a beach ball there is a possibility it could learn to dive despite it not being designed to do so.

[@RaptorChatter]

With the airsacs it would not have a tail capable of producing the thrust necessary to dive. Learning has nothing to do with it, diving is seemingly completely unattainable for Spinosaurus. A good comparison is asking a person to fly with just their body. Out bodies aren't made for it, so we can't fly despite being able to learn. I do agree there's a lot of behavior we don't know, but based on their morphology, it wasn't going to happen

[@TheAnon26]

So... Why wouldnt it swim on the surface? Thatd explain the refuced hind legs (less drag) and sail (irrelevant to drag since itd be above the waterline). Think carnivorous swan. Dense bones for stability, air sacs for buoyancy. Not a fast swimmer, more of a sedate paddler that attacks like a heron, striking at passing fish. Seems reasonable.

[@breakaleg10]

I wonder what future paleontologists will think of our remains, and how they would put a hippo back together

[@julianswinton5355]

People will say a hippo would have been a terrestial animal if it would been only known from fossil records but we know they live in the water 24/7 and come out mainly to feed. And they do not need to swim as they simply power walk on the bottom of lakes

[@enscroggs]

Did the authors compare Spinosaurus to penguins?

[@TheZXKUQYB]

Can a hoof animal climb trees, Then you see a goat in a tree or mountain. Perhaps the adaptation, Spino sat underwater used the sacks as an air tank & ambushed. The limitations of bones.

[@wingedhussar1453]

I think goiin off bones dont tell us nothing.we have a damn tailbone

[@spinosaurusstriker]

Just like the paper claiming spino was cuadrupedal, this is not going to last, it doesn’t make sense.

[@joeybulford5266]

Once again, I understand nothing about spinosaurus. Surprised they haven’t found a specimen with wings yet, or a specimen on Mars.

[@dan8910100]

why would it have bothered to evolve a broad flat tail if it wasnt swimming? you dont need a tail like that to gently cruise at the surface. what evolutionary pressures would have taken its tail in that direction if not to swim?

[@RaptorChatter]

Display. Protoceratops also had a vertically expanded tail, and it lived in sand dunes.

[@ROUGEBLOCK]

Bullshit he dived in Jurassic Park 3 like a champ

[@thewoollyviking5928]

It’s sounding more and more like Spino and many of its relatives lived much less like crocs and more like a weird heron, duck, maybe pelican (assuming Irrirator’s jaw morphology isn’t an outlier)

[@RaptorChatter]

I would love more spinosaur jaw morphology to see if Irritator is an outlier. This paper did treat Irritator as a unique genus, but Oxalaia as Spinosaurus, so potentially Irritator could be just a juvenile Spinosaurus, or a related animal. But overall I agree. Spinosaurs seemed to feed on midsized prey, and had the adaptations to do so, be they on land or in water. It would have been well suited to rapid strikes at prey which could be handled without as much long term hunting effort.

[@thewoollyviking5928]

@@RaptorChatterthe image of these absolute giants floating along the surface of the water like spino-geese, their bill board sails and heads just poking up from the water while scooping fish into their pelican mouths is a far cry from the sail backed Rex hunter of JP3 but honestly is a much more interesting animal.

[@platinumwarrior1309]

Spino can dive and also can shoot water out of its mouth like a powerful water hose!!!!

[@doug-Hakura]

I liked your comment at the end - eat anything that could fit in it's mouth. Though I suggest there is a minimum size - i.e. to little return on effort.

[@RaptorChatter]

Yes I'd agree. The Irritator jaw paper from last year seems to also support that they were able to quickly eat smaller prey.

[@Andrewbert109]

Then how did it generate electricity

[@miguelcabreracastro6968]

The funny thing also is the theory of spinosaurus being a chimera... what if some of the bones and structures are from other spinosaurids unkown to science? the situation would get even worse... what if the tail wass from other creature? I mean i dont doubt the analysis of scientists but, sometimes they got things wrong and thats okey, someone will come later to correct if it is the case... I love a swimming spino boi, i wish it dive but yeah. To be honest, just floating on surface to hunt isnt a bad theory... we can do that today with spears and patience... an animal that big, floating still, like a big fallen three... a safe shelter for small fish that could atract bigger fish to predate them, just to get ambushed by the patient spino...

[@JonBrase]

0:23 Given the fate of the holotype, there are two ways to interpret this statement. One of them is cooler.

[@eamonahern7495]

I think it walked like a crocodile because of its limbs.

[@gamincaimin9954]

Well, a crocodile is a reptile, with its limbs coming out the sides of its body, unlike a spinosaur, which is a dinosaur, having its limbs coming out the bottom.

[@alpacaofthemountain8760]

So it could float on the water like a duck?

[@RaptorChatter]

I want this to be a holy grail reference

[@KillTheRevolution]

Hypothesis: Spinos squatted in rivers facing the current and caught fish as they came down stream. The sail was a quickly-evolved solution for heat regulation while partially submerged.

[@dagoodboy6424]

I feel like spino was a great swimmer and a bad diver. Like a dino duck

[@TheCaptain-ky1sx]

What could it do, at this point

[@Ruminatingsecret]

That shirt is cool af! Where can i buy it?

[@RaptorChatter]

It's attached to our video. It should be in our spreadshirt or redbubble otherwise. We're also working on our own website an manufacturing in the future.

[@NLance]

I was thinking. Could it be possible that Spinosaurus used the airsacks like a fish used its bladder? Well, kind of. Normally, the Spinosaurus would spend its days swimming at the surface of the water with inflated airsacks, hunting fish close to the surface. This made it lighter and it could easily use its tail and body to swim along. But if it wanted to dive after a promising large prey, it would simply press the air out of the airsacks, thus making itself heavier. This meant that the dinosaur would need to spend more energy to swim (use tail, body, back limbs) and to get back to the surface because it cannot fill the airsacks back up without breathing. Just a thought. Dinosaurs may be related to birds but they are not quite like birds or reptiles, so it isnt such a farfetched idea.

[@rodrigopinto6676]

The spinosaurus was not a good "swimmer" however the tyrannosaurus rex was an excellent.

[@charlesunderwood6334]

Having done a lot of fieldwork on the rocks Spinosaurus comes from (currently writing a paper on the sedimentology) I find it rather boring and am not convinced that the "skeleton" the modern reconstructions are based on are one individual. It clearly is water associated and at one site I have worked is the only dinosaur in the sheet flood deposits where all other fossils are fish. But I agree, it was a wader and the chevron shaped tail bones would have prevented it from being able to be used for propulsion.

[@RaptorChatter]

I would love for a sedimentatology paper of the site to come out. I think I even mentioned that I would in my Hone and Holtz video, if not one of the others.

[@charlesunderwood6334]

@@RaptorChatter Working on it gradually. The environment was, as you can guess, odd. The southern outcrop is channels in steep palaeovalleys, and the northern outcrop a complex mosaic of braid plain environments. A colleague is there now and will get some better photos (the softer units are really difficult to get good photos of due to weathering and the intense sunlight).

[@RaptorChatter]

I totally get that it can be difficult. One of the things I'm working on is bright white rock which erodes easily. Plus with such a large area I imagine that it would be difficult to condense all of it quickly.

[@nobodyimportant4778]

If you have a creature that was hyperspecialized for being in water With piscivorous teeth Massive mass and need for huge amounts of calories And inability to walk properly on land And your reconstructions say it couldn't swim or dive The reconstruction is wrong.

[@RaptorChatter]

But it could walk on land? There's nothing that has realistically suggested it couldn't. Additionally it wasn't hyperspecialized for being in water, as this paper discusses. Being around water, sure, but I wouldn't call a heron specialized for being in the water.

[@Crocy]

Oooooh, I read it as "Spino couldn't Drive", thought it was just gonna be about pronation 😂

[@Crocy]

"10 & 2 dear" "Mum I can't!"

[@CruentusV]

i hate when supposedly bright people making definitive assertions ruin their own arguments: spinosaurus had a paddlelike tail, dense bones, and a lot of airsacs LIKE cormorants who must "paddle...to maintain submerged". we're looking at a lot of data that is begging for some full-body simulations (computerized or otherwise) to see just what's required for the animal to maintain submerged and then compare that with actual remains...

[@gamincaimin9954]

Honestly I don't see the utility of diving for a spinosaurus, especially aegyptiacus, it doesn't seem like an animal that could give chase to a fish. Even crocodiles just lie in wait at the surface for something to swim bye.The likelihood of sensors and high nostrils don't strike me as a diving based predator aswell. Not an expert though, just my two-cents

[@bryceburns7425]

Crocodiles dive under water all the time, and most often attack their prey from below not above. I have no idea what you’re talking about.

[@RaptorChatter]

Exactly. They may appear like logs when hunting large prey at the edge of the water. But they start from below the water. So if they had that sail and it was for communication within the species then it would immediately cause other animals to flee. The sail alone doesn't support an underwater lifestyle.