Before Spinosaurus appeared, Tyrannosaurus Rex, as a traditional carnivorous dinosaur, seemed to be sitting still. The largest land carnivorous dinosaur? After the discovery of Spinosaurus, there has been a heated debate about who is the largest terrestrial carnivorous dinosaur. There is no doubt that it belongs to Spinosaurus.
Definitely longer than Tyrannosaurus Rex. Spinosaurus is the longest known theropod dinosaur. It is generally believed that the body length of Spinosaurus is greater than 13 meters, and the longest can reach 18 meters. Although spinosaurus was obviously longer than Tyrannosaurus Rex in length, it was not necessarily stronger than Tyrannosaurus Rex in weight. Most scholars believe that Spinosaurus was lighter than Tyrannosaurus Rex. According to calculation, it is generally believed that the weight of spinosaurus is about 4 ~ 18 tons, and some research results show that the maximum weight of spinosaurus can reach 23 tons. Compared with other dinosaurs, Spinosaurus was not widely distributed, and it mainly lived in northern Africa.
Because human cognition of dinosaurs is mainly limited to the study of skeletal fossils, many aspects of human research on dinosaurs come from speculation.
Taking the eating habits of Spinosaurus as an example, there has been controversy. Is Spinosaurus a fierce land predator or a fish eater? Judging from the skull shape of Spinosaurus, it is similar to an animal that we are very familiar with, that is, crocodile, so people tend to think that Spinosaurus is a semi-aquatic animal.
It will soak its body in water like a crocodile, only sticking its head out of the water and hunting by sensing the movements of animals around it. However, fish is not the only food source of Spinosaurus, and Spinosaurus is more likely to be a carnivorous dinosaur with multiple feeding habits. The unique feeding habits of Spinosaurus are beneficial to its survival, because it can avoid competition with other large theropods. This is not entirely a guess, but the researchers did find that the oxygen isotope of Spinosaurus teeth is closer to that of large aquatic crocodiles in the same area.
Spinosaurus is also called Spinosaurus or Spinosaurus, and its long backstab is the symbolic feature of Spinosaurus.
The long spines in the north of Spinosaurus were formed by the extension of nerve spines in the spine. It is generally believed that the length of these long spines can reach more than two meters. Apart from these long spines, Spinosaurus is the most controversial place. For a long time, people tend to think that there is connected skin outside the long spine. Based on this, it is speculated that the back of Spinosaurus will present a huge sail.
If so, a new problem has arisen. What's the use of this sail on Spinosaurus' back? Such obvious morphological characteristics can never be useless. It is generally believed that the sail on the back of Spinosaurus may have three uses. One is the monitor. This huge sail may exist to attract the opposite sex. Many animals in nature have similar operations, and peacock is a typical one. However, Spinosaurus is so exciting just to attract the attention of the opposite sex, which seems far-fetched.
Another view is that the huge sail on the back of Spinosaurus can play a deterrent role.
In the era when Spinosaurus lived, there was competition for food among large theropods. The huge sails would make Spinosaurus look much bigger, making its appearance more intimidating, thus gaining survival advantages. Compared with the first two, just like? Watch? The third inference is much more practical.
Scientists speculate that if these sails are covered with blood vessels, they will have a practical use, that is, regulating body temperature. Huge sails can be used for both heat absorption and heat dissipation. The larger an animal's body is, the smaller the proportion of its surface area is, so it is a reasonable speculation to adjust its body temperature by increasing its surface area. But these three conjectures are all based on the same foundation, that is, there is indeed a sail on the back of Spinosaurus, and this foundation itself is actually a guess, and the back of Spinosaurus may not be a sail at all.
If Spinosaurus' back is not a sail, what is it?
In fact, in nature, there are many backstab animals on bones, such as bison. Bison also has a long backstab on its spine, but it has no sail on its back. Because these dorsal spines are not only connected by skin, they are also covered with thick muscles, so from the outside, the back of bison looks like a bulge, and so may spinosaurus.
If so, then the Spinosaurus' back should look high, not the sail. Unfortunately, it is difficult for us to know what it looks like outside only by relying on dinosaur bones, so for all dinosaurs, what we usually know about their appearance is only the result of imagination and speculation based on weak evidence, but we don't know what dinosaurs really look like.