Was T.rex A Better Swimmer Than Spinosaurus?

Spinosaurus and Tyrannosaurus are two of the most famous and culturally influential megatheropods, with a fanboy rivalry dating back to 2001. One was a huge water-based predator from North Africa that feasted on fish the size of cars, and the other was an even bigger North American tyrant that took on living tanks. Our understanding of both species has changed dramatically since they were discovered, but Spinosaurus in particular has been the subject of back-and-forth drama regarding its ecological role. Was it a bipedal monster that took on other theropods? Was it a knee-deep wader? Or was it an aquatic pursuit predator that used its powerful tail to dive under the surface and hunt prey in the water column? A new study indicates that, at least in this respect, Spinosaurus and Tyrannosaurus had something in common: the way that they used water to hunt.
The idea that Spinosaurus and Tyrannosaurus both hunted in water may be a strange one, but ecological modeling and morphology based on biophysics seems to indicate that it may have happened.
All artists with material in this video are referenced within the video itself. If a piece of art has been misidentified, please let me know.
Fabbri et al. 2022: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35322229
Myrhvold et al. 2023 Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.11...
Blanco 2023: academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...

[@prehistorichero2755]

Michael Crichton predicted a swimming Tyrannosaurus in this Jurassic Park novel.

[@seanledden4397]

Was about to say the same thing. I remember the scene from his novel where the T-Rex becomes "the world's largest crocodile."

[@joeerickson516]

"I thought,💭 the Tyrannosaurus rex,🦖 can't swim?" 🏊

[@joeerickson516]

"An ambush predator?" "You got to be kidding me?"

[@joeerickson516]

"Let me guess?" "Your saying that the Tyrannosaurus Rex's,🦖 bigger rival, the Spinosaurus is a shoreline ambush predator that eats fish?"🐠 "right?"👉 "like a crocodile?"🐊

[@845_Mk6]

Do u think any Dino’s were smart enough to engage in that kind of herding behavior to get an easy meal fascinating subject

[@EBLazerRex]

I just find it funny that scientists are trying to make Spinosaurus less semi-aquatic and T. rex more "water-friendly" 🤣

[@Mr.Wetherilli]

That isn't the case at all.

[@EBLazerRex]

@@Mr.Wetherilli It's a joke, my man.

[@Mr.Wetherilli]

@@EBLazerRex ok

[@surgeonsergio6839]

Spino just sucks man. T rex is better than it, even at what it supposedly specialized for.

[@Danny-mg1hu]

So wait a minute spino is no longer the largest theropod?? It is actually giga or t-rex??

[@antoniocenteno1483]

T Rex: Once you tried to take everything away from me, now i take the only thing you have spinosaurus: No, my swimming estimations no!

[@notmyrealchannel559]

two things from the spinosaurus, both the better swimming and the title of largest carnivorous dinosaur goes to the T Rex itself, and t rex has all feats that made it the most powerful and smartest apex predator of all dinosaurs(all the dinosaurs smarter than T Rex such as Deinonychus, and no paleontologists have proven that Troodons are not real dinosaurs. Deinonychus and compsagnathus don't even qualify the apex predator title). since T Rex is a Coelurosaur as well, like the raptors, it most definitely developed a similar brain as raptors, and even outsmarting most raptors(including the infamous mongolian desert raptors, the Velociraptors who had the brains of a rabbit, while tyrannosaurs and deinonychus are basically the dinosaur equivalent of primates). and scale that raptor brain much bigger to match the size of a 10 ton T Rex.

[@wildbill9490]

I think T. rex was faster than these recent estimates make. That animation of the skeleton power walking is way too stiff. The whole skeleton would move with its legs, and the tail likely acted as a shock absorber to prevent putting catastrophic stress on its leg bones.

[@ferociousrazordino3581]

It almost certainly was. No account for cardifemoralis

[@rodrigopinto6676]

The T. rex was an excellent swimmer

[@farhanatashiga3721]

My guy the video literally states that the research use conservative speed estimates for the T-rex

[@VictorianTimeTraveler]

Imagine a T.rex chasing a prey item into the water then playing tug-of-war with a giant crocodile over the kill

[@aut0mat1c11]

The question about how adult T-rex was able to hunt it's prey items with slow running speeds have been answered all because one man suggested that T-Rex can doggy paddle...

[@TravisMcInroy]

Other studies have found that it was still probably faster than most of its preferred prey items and also that it probably expended less energy in a chase due to its long stride, meaning it would have more endurance than its shorter-legged prey.

[@catpoke9557]

@@TravisMcInroy Plus, ambush exists. T. rex had very padded feet, and 2 legs means less sticks to watch out for when walking too. It could sneak.

[@tyrannotherium7873]

I mean it does make sense in the Cretaceous period hell Creek that it was like , the Florida Everglades however, I do believe that it would still hunt its prey on land, of course but when we look at the Okavango delta lions do hunt in the water, and when we look at an Indian tigers, do surprise attack the prey animals of the water as well so maybe tyrannosaurus could do the same thing. Also, I wonder what New Mexico was like in terms of the climate maybe the New Mexico specimens did not swim maybe the hell Creek specimens dead, but then again who knows

[@tyrannotherium7873]

@@dineobellator_-yf7ki well, maybe the New Mexico Tyrannosaurus rex would have to be very very, very, very, very careful

[@tyrannotherium7873]

@@dineobellator_-yf7ki well, the reason why I think that it would not swim in the ocean is because a mosasaurs

[@tyrannotherium7873]

@@dineobellator_-yf7ki I thought New Mexico had Everglades oceans and lakes back then

[@toshiarichardson9627]

Ive always had a hunch he was like a croc. Using the tiny front arms to anchor his front in shallower water while most his body was submerged , waitng for prey like a croc does, and then using its powerful back legs to spring out, then drag its prey back in. But there were crocs back then and they already had a perfect shape due to evolution. Most animals know how to swim and the world was different . Lots of shallow seas and waterbodies, so it makes sense most Dino's knew how to swim. Chasing its prey into water works, but remember there were crocs in the water that could and did eat t rexs. So prob not a great hunting method.

[@rodrigopinto6676]

T. rex was the ultimate terrestrial predator and was an excellent swimmer

[@govardhanposina17]

What crocs are you talking about? Even Deinosuchus wouldn't attack a fully grown rex but they didn't even live at the same time period

[@toshiarichardson9627]

@@govardhanposina17 we weren't talking about Crocs...just a different perspective on T -rex....and how his skeleton looks like a crocodiles but with a frogs rear legs....so I voiced my thoughts that maybe it did hunt like a croc, in water but laying down...so he could use his tiny fore arms to grip the river bed and then use his back legs to explode out of the water, grab it's prey, and then use it's powerful legs and tail to pull it's prey in.... Just a different opinion....remember most the world was covered in shallow seas and oceans as well during T -rexs reign.

[@govardhanposina17]

@@toshiarichardson9627 talking about the second last sentence in your comment

[@toshiarichardson9627]

@@govardhanposina17 ahhh, ok...well it's probably a lot like Africa today,one on one a fully grown Nile croc will not take on a adult lion out of water....but in the water...well that's different... one on one with a full grown T-Rex no way but more than one sarco or deino full grown could take down a full grown T-Rex if ambushed. If they got it in the water then it would probably drown before much of a fight...it all depends....but one on one on land both full grown.....yes..you are right. One on one in the water....depends on a few factors....like hunger ...water depth, weight of both animals....and the sad fact is there are always more Crocs lurking....so if one just grabs a Rex and pulls it in the water, then if it can't break away and get out they will use Thier bodies as dead weight to drown it. They are smart enough to use different tactics when taking down things like lions . They seem to know they are more dangerous than gazelles and wildebeest so they tend to grab them and drown them quickly as opposed to just tearing in like they do with herbivores....and since the croc family has hardly changed in the intervening millennia besides size wise, I'd say the huge ones back then we're just as smart. The mighty T-Rex might have ruled the land, but even he paused before getting a drink or crossing a river...just like lions today.....

[@graystanback7438]

While Tyrannosaurus certainly would have been able to ambush its prey in the water if it needed to-- which is more or less a given, since the Hell Creek Formation is thought to have resembled the modern-day Everglades-- I wouldn't call it an aquatic animal. We know from oxygen isotope ratios that, regardless of whether they were swimming or wading, spinosaurs were spending more time in the water than other large theropods.

[@MonsterZilla452]

So, spino is semi aquatic again

[@chichiboypumpi]

Dino Crisis also has a swimming T-Rex, and it can outswim a motor boat.

[@bencoomer2000]

The idea that T. rex would chase "duckbills" into water is kinda hilarious considering I grew up with the idea "duckbills" escaped to water against T. rex.

[@Luttzvaq666]

Love your videos, but I'd recommend you get a better microphone, it would increase percieved production quality a lot I think

[@crow8737]

I don’t know what you’re on about? He’s perfectly perceivable.

[@fragelicious]

I quess they never watched a moose out swim a grizzly before. The Grizzly has much more drag to overcome. Hurts the hypothisis that Trex was faster in the water than it's thinner prey. How did they miss that? Moose or Elk always beat a chasing bear across a lake or swimming to an island, if their healthy. Short distance attacks in shallow water would work though, IMO 4-5' ft of water wouldn't slow down a Trex enough not to work, added to surprise.

[@TravisMcInroy]

T. rex had much longer legs relative to its body than grizzlies do and it was also bipedal, while bears are quadrupedal animals that can stand up on their hind legs. Moose and elk, while also quadrupedal, have much longer legs than bears, who would have to start swimming much sooner than their attempted prey.

[@ghilliegod8301]

The difference is that bears have longer and denser fur than moose, this analogy isnt really comparable to t Rex that probably had leathery skin with faint feathers near the head

[@barrybarlowe5640]

I think someone is mocking someone else. T-Rex could probably swim, in a pinch, but I doubt it was preferred. Chickens can swim, too, but don't prefer or seek it out. If the Rex started to roll due to fluid kinetics (waves or turbulence) it would not be able to control itself. I can barely imagine Spinosarus swimming. That sail can't be compared to say, the sail of a sailfish, which the animal can flatten or extend at will. It has bone and would have to be balanced. It would be a detriment to the survival of a large mostly aquatic predator. I think Spinosarus hunted like a Grizzly during a salmon spawn, and scavenged washed up animals.

[@rodrigopinto6676]

The spinosaurus was not a good swimmer

[@jkjk7423]

Hi @The Vividen, could you please do a paleontology video on Ceratopsids? Specifically, Triceratops, Torosaurus, Styracosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus. Can also do a video on other Tyrannosaurids like Tarbosaurus, Daspletosaurus and Albertosaurus.

[@TheVividen]

That would be really fun!

[@jkjk7423]

@@TheVividen Nice! Also, was wondering if I could know where to find you on Discord?

[@randomguyodst46]

Cool science fiction.

[@jessehutchings]

The only way to escape a Rex is by leading it to a better meal. It's the only way

[@jessehutchings]

.. imagine getting a drink of refreshing dinosaur age river water and when you get up and turn around a Rex is just standing there waiting .. 💀

[@WildBillCox13]

Intriguing.

[@crappyanimations9992]

Spinosaurus was not a pursuit predator. Take it from me, he ain't out swimming nothing. No shark, no coelacanth, nothing faster than a human person. Its only option was ambush.

[@ultranecromos9915]

Could you do the sizes and estimates on triceratops porocess and horridus. I saw estimated post on triceratops height reaching 3.4 meters tall. And 9 meters long And speaking of swiming, how does triceratops fair in swiming

[@Ring3R]

Spinosaurs didn't interact with tyrannosaurs. They interacted with carcharodontosaurs.....carchorodontosaurus, mapusaurus, giga, etc. Very different than Tyrannosaurs, which were isolated to asia and america and focused on killing hard targets. We can only assume things, since it's so long ago, but I think maybe we have a good analog for what was going on. Spinosaurs were like bears. Generalists, big claws, they could dig, they could fish, and they could also go after terrestrial prey. The other therpods were like.....the big cats. Hyper-evolved to just kill land-prey. Down in south america, we had abeliasaurs......not as big, but well adapted to run, bite, follow. Maybe they were a good wolf-analog?

[@TheMattTrakker]

I think the answer to how did Tyrannosaurs hunt it's prey is just...yes.

[@The_PokeSaurus]

Beautiful SCIENCE!

[@catpoke9557]

It's like a reverse crocodile. However I'd like to see people test this with modern predators too using the same methods in the study. That way we can see if this is actually a good way to identify their hunting tactics.

[@paleo-zoo-keeper-association]

I wonder if this could mean that in theory, tyrannosaurus could be able to hunt hippos........

[@cry2368]

T-Rex is not a better swimmer than a spino. Just because one study said spinosaurus was as good as swimming as preveriously thought doesn't mean that spine lizard can't swim better than a rex. There is NO NEED for a Rex to swim well. Like it hunted edomontosaurus did they go in the water usually? No. Spinosaurus had to hunt fish and other aquatic wildlife which by the way DID LIVE IN WATER. But eh soon we'll find out spino actually had a powerful bite force and a powerful set of arms but it was like 4 tons.

[@mylessmith9758]

Damn people really try and make t.Rex the super ultra bestest at everything.

[@845_Mk6]

Would the Dinos even be smart enough to herd prey like that super interesting topic

[@catpoke9557]

Definitely.

[@leoornstein3963]

Jagrex mentioned!

[@masteroogway2669]

What if t-rex was more like a grizzly bear in the sense it was well rounded whereas the spinosaurus was more akin to a massive cuban crocodile, in that it could hunt in the water and shoreline but could venture deeper. because I doubt a known 40ft long animal equiped with meathook fingers, a muscular tail, buff arms and a 3 ton bite force (no matter what its teeth were shaped for) would still have been a great ambush predator and have been able to hold its own off shore and banks too. I highly doubt an animal of that size would flit about like a godamn penguin or even submerge, it was just to big and immaneuverable seeing that it lived in a 'wetland'/'mangrove'/'jungle'? environment, no river would be big enough. However, I also doubt it chased and hunted down food off shore even if it wanted to, it was (as put before) simply too big for that. I personally believe, it may have been the wader surface swimmer and partial 'submerger' it has always known to be. Maybe living like modern crocodiles today in groups. Some may forget, spinosaurs lived in mostly acidic conditions where there was such a sheer number of megafauna and biodiversity that a single toe nail let alone skeleton of a whole spinosaurus may have been left. It lived in a wetland and we see what happens today in the amazon, just size up the caiman to a spinosaur the jaguars to carcharadontosaurs and whaterver other megatheropods lived there then there we go. A hostile yet niche ecosystem with much competition. I forgot to mention earlier that i think the few fossils we have of spinosaurus may have been post-river recline era due to the droughts happeneing at the time leading to less wholly consumed carcasses by theropods carnvirores and the sort but by scapenging pterosaurs and the like. So there you have it my bit of waffle.

[@sueflewelling3657]

great video is it ok if I ask you a question?

[@TheVividen]

Thank you! And of course!

[@sueflewelling3657]

​@@TheVividen was wondering if you heard of a game series called monster hunter?

[@TheVividen]

@@sueflewelling3657 Yes! I haven't played a lot, but I think that the kaiju and creature designs from Monster Hunter are absolutely incredible.

[@sueflewelling3657]

​@@TheVividen from what you seem what creachers do you think are probabl of existing in our world?

[@TheVividen]

@@sueflewelling3657 I wouldn't say so, no. But dinosaurs are pretty close!

[@dr.archaeopteryx5512]

Flashback to those pre-Dino-Renaissance era dinosaur books that claimed Hadrosaurs fled into the water to escape predators... But also, what the hell kind of bizarro world is this. Spinosaurus sucking at swimming was one thing, but Spinosaurus sucking at swimming while Tyrannosaurus was actually amazing at it? Utter silly nonsense.

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Like friggin kangaroos

[@tyrannozilla1]

the water godzilla

[@conanthelibrarian5139]

Any modern examples of this occurring?

[@IndominusRex-wc1ey]

Now explain to me how the fuck we're gonna observe Tyrannosaurus hunting in and around water

[@SMACKTHEBLUE]

Last week at The Bronx Zoo. It was wild!!

[@Kor06.]

Elephant can swim

[@kaantheviperunverdi7735]

In the meg novel. Rex chaes its prey in the water.

[@spalea007]

And the meg never crossed a t-rex...

[@ivangreat4885]

Eh thats my problem with trex people do studies on it without really thinking it through. Edmontosaurus were big and there were probably herds of them to be able to spook all of them into the water seems impossible. This strategy also would be very energy expensive i could trot after them but by then they'd be miles away. Finally intelligence imo trex having high intelligence doesn't make much sense, they say it has a larger brain for body size. I hate that sentence having a large brain doesn't really make you smarter i mean opossums have a smaller brain for body size and they are smarter then cats and dog it depends on what it was using it for, we really don't have any evidence of high intelligence. Its like rather think about it because its trex give it everything, because realistically why and how is it vision better than birds of prey?

[@rodrigopinto6676]

T. rex was the ultimate terrestrial predator

[@ivangreat4885]

@@rodrigopinto6676 but we still don't know how it hunted ya can't call it ultimate if we don't why it had these traits that wouldn't help a predator of its size.

[@danielcain8136]

​@@ivangreat4885 yo

[@danielcain8136]

​@ivan great we meet again

[@ivangreat4885]

@@danielcain8136 "I don't even know how you are"

[@unkownperson9250]

i believe the rex was a great swimmer and was capable of tucking their back limbs in and able to dive quite profenciently in the same way that modern day lizards and birds are capable of... i do not believe the rex doggy paddle is accurate at all.

[@ditokhutsishvili2106]

no t rex was not sweemer, can t rex fly or walking on moon

[@AgroAcro]

T.rex could swim

[@Bukka0]

I hope you know that "tyrannosaurus rex runs again" paper is a laughing stock and should not be referenced

[@pandachief1144]

No, the answer is no period. A rex could never swim as well as a spino.

[@AgroAcro]

Spinosaurus wasn't a good swimmer at all.

[@amirram8308]

​@@AgroAcroit was

[@AgroAcro]

@@amirram8308 It wasn't. Read the paper "Spinosaurus is not an aquatic dinosaur" by Paleontologist Paul Sereno.

[@amirram8308]

@@AgroAcro Spinosaurus Is not a Aquatic, It's Semi Aquatic, means spinosaurus was active in both land and water

[@AgroAcro]

@@amirram8308 Read the paper. While it did live in mainly water, it stayed in shallow water that it could stand in because it was a bad swimmer. Read the paper, it says that.

[@surgeonsergio6839]

I'm pretty sure a t rex would destroy a spino even under water. Spino taking Ls left and right, up and down, front and back and everywhere at everytime all at once. The t rex is better than spino at what supposedly the spino specialized for!🤣

[@OtodusMegalodon1997]

True comment

[@Kor06.]

Well to be fair t. rex destroy any theropod at any place too Rex wins against giga in any environment too

[@zebgiganotosaurusgaming]

With current measurements Spinosaurus aegyptiacus is only 3.2 tonnes & 10.5m long. T rex is 3 times heavier at 10.4 tonnes & 12.4m Giganotosaurus carolinii is the biggest carnivorous dinosaur at 10.5 tonnes & 13.5m

[@theaviandinosaur2.0]

What! 😡 Please state your sources. T. REX is biggest.

[@Sirdilophosaurusthethird2.0]

Why are you claiming that spino is 3.2 tons? It’s fucking 6 to 7 tons

[@parakeorex]

​@@Sirdilophosaurusthethird2.0 and the giga mass is of 7-8t . Sorry for My English

[@aut0mat1c11]

@@parakeorex you spoke without grammatical errors.

[@chrisrandom1404]

There is no 10.5 tonnes Giganotosaurus specimen. The largest specimen we have (which is only fragmentary) is around 8.5 tonnes. The largest measurable specimen is just over 12m and around 8 tonnes. Unless you have actual proof otherwise.....