Spinosaurus: Meat-eating dinosaur even larger than T-Rex, was ‘river monster’, researchers say

50-foot long creature lived in north African river systems in ‘huge numbers’ during cretaceous period

Spinosaurus were well-adapted to life in and out of water, palaeontologists have recently learned (Getty)

While the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex is rightly recognised as being among the most fearsome of carnivorous dinosaurs, in recent years an even larger beast - the spinosaurus - has begun to attain a similar level of infamy.

A new study by a team of researchers at Portsmouth University confirms the spinosaurus “was an enormous river-monster”, which would have terrorised riparian species.

This extraordinary dinosaur could grow to 50 feet (15 meters) long and weigh seven tons - making it even longer than the T-Rex, which could grow to 40 feet (12 metres) long.

But until relatively recently, little was known about spinosaurus, with few complete specimens leaving paleontologists with questions about its anatomy and, consequently, how it lived.

Building on research published earlier this year which revealed the dinosaur was highly adept at swimming after new fossils from its tail were found in Morocco, the team collected 1,200 fossilised dinosaur teeth from the same region.

The abundance of spinosaurus teeth the team found, revealed the animals were living in the ancient Kem Kem river system in “huge numbers”.

Before the discovery in 2015 of the new tail fossil, it had been believed this animal had spent the majority of its life on land. But the scientists say the large numbers of teeth found in the Kem Kem river system, which flowed through the Sahara Desert 100 million years ago, supports the idea of the dinosaur as being adapted to an aquatic lifestyle.

While the mighty Tyrannosaurus Rex is rightly recognised as being among the most fearsome of carnivorous dinosaurs, in recent years an even larger beast - the spinosaurus - has begun to attain a similar level of infamy. A new study by a team of researchers at Portsmouth University confirms the spinosaurus “was an enormous river-monster”, which would have terrorised riparian species. This extraordinary dinosaur could grow to 50 feet (15 meters) long and weigh seven tons - making it even longer than the T-Rex, which could grow to 40 feet (12 metres) long. But until relatively recently, little was known about spinosaurus, with few complete specimens leaving paleontologists with questions about its anatomy and, consequently, how it lived. David Martill, professor of palaeobiology at the University of Portsmouth, said: “The huge number of teeth we collected in the prehistoric river bed reveals that spinosaurus was there in huge numbers, accounting for 45 per cent of the total dental remains.

“We know of no other location where such a mass of dinosaur teeth have been found in bone-bearing rock.

“The enhanced abundance of spinosaurus teeth, relative to other dinosaurs, is a reflection of their aquatic lifestyle. An animal living much of its life in water is much more likely to contribute teeth to the river deposit than those dinosaurs that perhaps only visited the river for drinking and feeding along its banks.”

He added: “From this research we are able to confirm this location as the place where this gigantic dinosaur not only lived but also died. The results are fully consistent with the idea of a truly water-dwelling ‘river monster’."

Paleontology masters student Aaron Quigley, explained the process of sorting through the teeth: “After preparing all the fossils, we then assessed each one in turn. The teeth of spinosaurus have a distinct surface. They have a smooth round cross section which glints when held up to the light.

“We sorted all 1,200 teeth into species and then literally counted them all up. Forty-eight per cent of our total find were spinosaurus teeth.”

Fellow masters student Thomas Beevor, who also worked on the research, added: “The Kem Kem river beds are an amazing source of spinosaurus remains. They also preserve the remains of many other Cretaceous creatures including sawfish, coelacanths, crocodiles, flying reptiles and other land-living dinosaurs. With such an abundance of spinosaurus teeth, it is highly likely that this animal was living mostly within the river rather than along its banks.”

Though the species has long been known of - even making a memorable appearance in the film Jurassic Park III, in which it fights off a T-Rex - the full anatomy of spinosaurus remained a mystery for decades because crucial fossils were destroyed during the Second World War.

But in 2008 the Morocco skeleton was first located, and then the additional tail bones which revealed the animal’s swimming capabilities were dug up in 2015.

The study is published in the journal Cretaceous Research.