(LINKS TO PAST FOSSIL FRIDAYS)

Community College (LRCCD)

Geology & Earth Science Instructor: Arthur Reed, P.G.

Happy Fossil Friday!

Friday November 27, 2020

Instructor: Arthur Reed, P.G.

Spinosaurus aegyptiacus

Tail-propelled aquatic dinosaur

Originally Published in Nature February 2020

Nizar Ibrahim is a US-based German-Moroccan vertebrate paleontologist and comparative anatomist. He is currently an assistant professor at the University of Detroit Mercy.

A new fossil of one of the most unusual dinosaurs, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, suggests it was a swimming predator powered by a powerful fin-like tail. The find comes after decades of debate on how much of its life Spinosaurus would have spent in the water, and how reliant they might have been on aquatic prey. Paleontologist Nizar Ibrahim has been working at the dig site in the Sahara and describes his amazement at the unique tail bones they found under the rock and sand.

Read ‘Nature’ research article here.

Watch Video narrated by Professor Ibrahim

General location of discovery is colored red

Technical details of the Spinosaurus aegyptiacus fin-like tail

A fellow paleontologist carefully exposing and dislodging fossilized pieces of the Spinosaurus aegyptiacus

Local view from the dig site

NOTE: Corrections are always appreciated!