For the first time in history, researchers say they have convincing evidence that a dinosaur lived mostly in water.
An international team of researchers, supported by the National Geographic Society, reported that the Spinosaurus, the longest predatory dinosaur known, could swim.
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Based on a multidisciplinary investigation of the Spinosaurus skeleton, scientists determined that the dinosaur used tail-propelled swimming locomotion to hunt for prey in a massive river system.
While the dinosaur was first discovered in the early 1900s, a team led by Dr. Nizar Ibrahim, a National Geographic Explorer, found its only existing skeleton in the Moroccan Sahara in 2014. This discovery revealed that the Spinosaurus was 50 feet long, longer than an adult T-rex.
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Ibrahim, looking to support his theory that the Spinosaurus was a semi-aquatic dinosaur, returned to Morocco in 2018. His team recovered many more fossils of the skeleton, including a remarkably complete, fin-like tail capable of extensive lateral movement
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Two Spinosaurus hunt Onchopristis, a prehistoric sawfish, in the waters of the Kem Kem river system in what is now Morocco. (Davide Bonadonna)