The Spinosaurus

Spinosaurus Rex

Oh, what a great dinosaur to talk about! And also a great conversation topic! Well, im going to let you guys know where i stand in size and what not, so be prepared!

Spinosaurus, hence the dinosaur i got my name from. Lets me get started on size, shall we? The places where i get my estimations are purely through what ive saw on most sites that have its size stated and also through observations of animals it has similarities with. All in all, i believe its size is up to 60 ft in length and 14 or 15 tons at most. My reason being is there is no reason for a carnivore to be long and not have weight and height, as well as a bunch of muscle to go along with that length. Length and predation do not mix well, at all, end of story. Which brings me to my second point, which i have stated many times in the past, a land predator that large simply does not rely on the smallest prey in an ecosystem, and also, somthing that large needs to feed almost constantly to keep the energy it needs to kill more/defend itself from intruders. 

Fish and small dinosaurs would not be enough to satisfy this enormous carnivore's hunger, so it would most likely resort to eating the much larger individuals of the dinosaurs in the area. Yes, it's skull shape insists it was adapted to capturing fish, but i look at it as more of an accesory to further satisfy its large appetite. 

This information i dont look at as merely just OPINIONS, i look at them more as highly educated guesses as to what this dinosaurs was and how it lived, and to add another thing, this is obviously nothing that is meant for starting and arguement, so please, people with strong opinions against this, tread very lightly with what you say, or i will notify you about it and depending on how aggressive you are towrds it, i will not hesitate to give you that same back, but through PM's.

JRR

Srex there is no secret conspiracy against you infact everyone agrees G2K should be the next mod and he is spino team

Tyrant king

It has. I'm do sorry I cause I love spino.

Carnosaur

He's right though Cat, i've mentioned it two or three times, and other then that it's been in multiple fights and posts being negatively posted about it, which is unfortunate because it certainly was a magnificent creature. 

Tyrant king

Ya but the mods close it constantly.

JRR

Imeant conspiracy against Spino team, the reason to lock spinosaurus is to avoid figthing, if i where a mod id also lock a lot of spino

Spinosaurus Rex

Why are we bringing in MODs to this discussion? I say what is to be said on this discussion, you know why? Because i created it! And i will not have it closed due to people bringing in unrelated topics, end of story.

Tyrant king

In on spino team.

Gojira2K

People really think I should be the next mod!?! Wow! I can't believe it. 

Also I think your estimates might be a little off, but it's an estimate.

Tyrant king

So, spinosaurs 50% piscovour 50% terrestrial hunter.

JRR

Maybe 70%-30% or 80%-20%

Tyrant king

SPINOSAURUS RULZ!!!!!!!!!!

Carnosaur

Getting back on topic, I'd like to address the "Spinosaurs are lightly built" claim brought up earlier; Most of the Species we have are super fragmentary, and aren't mature specimens. Bones certainly grow and morph as the dinosaur ages, and thus it gets heavier with the additional fatty tissue, internal organs, etc. From what we have, Baryonyx appears to be moderately built, and the holotype is considered to be a subadult( unfused sutures in the skull)

Photo cred to Scott Hartman.

Anyways, that animal doesn't appear to be 'lightly built' at all

Suchomimus Tenerensis Also appears to be more robustly built, more so then Baryonyx:

And, using these two species we can get a rough appearance of how rubustly built Spinosaurus was..

(From top to bottom: Baryonyx, Suchomimus, Spinosaurus)

Spinosaurus Rex

With my thoughts, i think the larger the animal, the more robust it is in general and in terms of size, but thats just me.

Tyrant king

I agree.

Carnosaur

For those who doubt Spinosaurids hunted terrestrial prey:

The remains of a juvenile Iguanodon were found fossilized in the stomach cavity of Baryonyx Walkeri, whether it was scavenged or killed by the heavy clawed Spinosaur is up for interpretation. But, it does absolutely point to the fact that Spinosaurs weren't limited to the water.

A pterosaur vertebrate was found in i think 2010 with a Spinosaur tooth imbedded in it, the mystery tooth came from either Angaturama or Irritator - which may be synonymous with each other, and what's more is the wound iddn't appear to heal, so either the Spinosaur killed the batlike creature, or it scavenged it. Either way, it's once more evidence that Spinosaurs weren't the strictly Piscivorious creatures they were thought to be twenty years ago

Tyrant king

Nice.

Spinosaurus Rex

And yet Carno, there will still be people to dispute that, but im in no control of that, and nobody should because its their opinion. But if people try their best to make your claims look stupid, thats the time to act.

Raptor-401

Back guys.

Why don't we talk about Spinosaur Hunting tactics? OF course, on S-Rex's decision, this is his discussion.

Carnosaur

We could really go any where with this topic, especially interspecific and Intraspecific conflict (fighting within a species. fighting other species)

Spinosaurus had a menagerie of large predators in its time period, That's kind of an indicator it would be well accustomed to conflict, despite people claiming it would simply avoid the other carnivores

Raptor-401

Well I believe Spino's attack could have mainly focused on the element of surprise.

Spinosaurus Rex

As long as it has to do with Spinosaurus AND it lifestyle, there shall be no harm done ;)

Spinosaurus Rex

The amount of other species of carnivores of similar size in its ecosystem really does play a factor as to how its combat/defensive part of its life is determined.

Carnosaur

In all likely hood yes, It probably stood in the water like a giant heron from  while stalking fish, keeping still and zeroing in on its target. It's jaws are fully capable of hoisting a 2/ 3 meter Onchopristis clear out of the water and onto the bank, as portrayed in Planet Dinosaur

Raptor-401

Yes, I can also imagine, as I stated earlier, it staying in the water, waiting for vulnerable prey to get a drink of water, then launching itself forward, maybe claming it's head over the victims head. Then maybe slam it against the ground, heck maybe even try drowning it.

**Al**

The amount of other species of carnivores of similar size in its ecosystem really does play a factor as to how its combat/defensive part of its life is determined.

 oh yes totally does

Carnosaur

And yes, all we have to do is look at the Savannahs of Africa to know this plays a huge role in how well an animal can defend itself from other species. And in all likely hood, Today's Africa is probably very similar to Africa 68 mya, predators in constant conflict; i mean challenging other species for a kill, offing the young to avoid competition - or just offing one unfortunate enough to wander by. this makes Predatory species very keen on combative measures.

Spinosaurus Rex

Thanks for quoting that AL, and yes, we can see this in all aspects of todays ecosytems.

Sci-Fi King25

^ I can see Spino hunting like a crocodile.

     I enjoy the idea of Spinosaurus hunting Onchopristis, a 25 feet long sawfish. Also, in order to support its large size, it would need to eat a lot. Spino would have to be purely oppurtunistic. It would probably eat a wide diet of large fish, juvenile sauropods, carrion, and small to medium sized herbivores. However, Spinosaurus could use its sail to make itself look bigger, and steal from smaller carnivores, such as Rugops and Deltadromeus.

Those are my thoughts on Spinosaurus diet. To hunt, Spinosaurus could grab prey and grip onto it with its long, conical teeth, and then shake it around and slash at it with its claws. It would have to rely on the element of suprise. If that failed, Spinosaurus would have to be fast and have quick reactions.  

Carnosaur

And ya see, i never got why people thought Spinosaurs weren't capable fighters, because even Baryonyx had the likes of Megalosaurus to deal with, and they were probably brought into conflict a great deal. Suchomimus too, had the predescesors of Rugops and Carcharodontosaurus that it in some way competed with, so it boggles the mind when people say Spinosaurs weren't very capable fighters.

Spinosaurus Rex

Thats the fight or flight reaction every animal has, Scifi. And intimidation is always the first resort as for every animal with similar size to another, its instict because it could prevent them from putting themselves in harm's way.