Dear Friends of Geology and Science
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1705368,00.html 7pm Wednesday
February 8, 2006 Spinosaurus towers over T-rex A gigantic dinosaur has put the
tyrannosaurus rex firmly in the shade.
The spinosaurus - now officially the biggest predatory dinosaur known to man -
measured 17 metres (55ft) from nose to tail, had long, crocodile-like jaws, and
is thought to have had a sail on its back. Although the spinosaurus was
discovered in 1912, an examination of newly obtained fossils has now confirmed
its true size. Until 10 years ago, scientists thought that the tyrannosaurus was
the largest predatory dinosaur. The largest fossil specimen, Sue, measures 13
metres (42ft) long and is thought to have weighed 6.4 tonnes when it lived, 67
million years ago.


Then scientists discovered the gigantosaurus, a meat-eater which lived 100
million years ago in what is now Argentina and stretched to 14 metres (45ft).
But the spinosaurus dwarfs them both. The spinosaurus - a theropod which stood
on two legs like tyrannosaurus and gigantosaurus - was first identified by the
German palaeontologist Ernst Stromer, who found the first specimen in Egypt in
1912. Stromer published a detailed study of the bones, including a partial
backbone with long spines which may have supported a sail. He believed that his
predator was bigger than tyrannosaurus rex, but the fossils were obliterated
when allied bombers struck a Munich museum in 1944. Since then, only a few
specimens of related dinosaurs and some isolated spinosaurus bones have been
unearthed.
Now a new examination of two skull fragments have confirmed Stromer's
suspicions. Cristiano Dal Sasso of the Civil Natural History Museum in Milan,
Italy, analysed a snout acquired from a private collector, and previously
unidentified bones from the upper rear of the skull. New Scientist magazine
reported: "After measuring their sizes, he estimates that the 99cm-long (3.25ft)
snout came from a skull 1.75 metres (5.75ft) long. From what we know of the body
shapes of other spinosaurs, Mr Dal Sasso calculates that the new spinosaurus was
17 metres long and weighed seven to nine tonnes." One of the most interesting
features of the spinosaurus was the sail on its back believed to have been used
to attract a mate, in the same way as a peacock's tail, or to intimidate enemies
or possibly to keep the animal cool. Spinosaurs, with their long and slender
snouts, were like theropod dinosaurs with crocodile mouths. Their long teeth
interlocked to catch prey, and there is evidence that they fed largely on fish.



Forwarded By yours Dr.BHUDIA-Science Group Of INDIA.
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