A rich horde of fossils from the Sahara has revealed that the largest known predator to ever walk the Earth was also a superb #swimmer, overturning the common view that dinosaurs were terrestrial beasts. The predatory #Spinosaurus, which could grow up to 23 feet (7 meters) long, had a broad, paddle-like tail that behaved more like the tails of today’s crocodiles than that of other carnivorous dinosaurs.
“This discovery is the nail in the coffin for the idea that non-avian dinosaurs never invaded the #aquatic realm,” Nizar Ibrahim, a paleontologist at the University of Detroit Mercy and the lead author of the new study, said in a statement. “This #dinosaur was actively pursuing prey in the water column, not just standing in shallow waters waiting for fish to swim by.”
rokur
Production engineer and certified swim coach. Full-time IT consultant, spare-time swimming aficionado. 2 sons, 2 daughters and a wife. President of the Faroe Islands Swimming Association. Likes to run :-)