Spinosaurus

The male Spinosaurus from Jurassic Park III

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Behavior in Jurassic Park

The Spinosaur was a vicious and brutal preditor. It was as deadly as on land and water. It could reach speeds around 25mph, and had a brutallity sizing up to the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex. Its crocodile-like mouth was full of teeth used for gripping and slicing. It could use its mouth to grip and its claws to tear and break. Its massive arms were used for gripping and tearing. Its feet could hold down suffering animals and may have been used to propel itself through water. They seem to stay close to rivers, so maybe it could ambush drinking herbivores. It is the biggest carnivore on the island of Isla Sorna, and there is only evidence of one on the island.

Spinosaurus

("spined lizard") is a genus of theropod dinosaur that lived in what is now North Africa, from the Albian to early Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous Period, about 100 million years ago. This genus was first known from a set of Egyptian remains discovered in 1910 and described by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer. These original remains were sadly destroyed in World War II, but additional skull material has come to light in recent years. It is unclear whether one or two species are represented in the described fossils. The best known species is Spinosaurus aegyptiacus from Egypt, although a potential second species named Spinosaurus marocannus has been discovered in Morocco. In the

film Jurassic Park III, it serves as the villainous antagonist.

The distinctive "spines" on the animal's back, which were long extensions of the vertebrae, grew up to 2 meters long and were likely to have had skin connecting them, forming a sail-like structure, although some have suggested that they were covered in muscle and formed a hump or ridge. Multiple functions have been put forward for this structure, including thermoregulation and display. According to recent estimates, Spinosaurus is the largest of all known carnivorous dinosaurs, even larger than Tyrannosaurus and Giganotosaurus. These estimates suggest that it was around 16 to 18 meters in length (52 to 59 feet) and 9 tons in weight, although these figures have not been universally accepted.

As seen in Jurassic Park III

Description

Although Spinosaurus is well-known to dinosaur enthusiasts due to its size, sail and elongated skull, it is mostly known from remains that have been destroyed, aside from a few more recently discovered teeth and skull elements. Additionally, so far only the skull and backbone have been described in detail, and limb bones have not yet been recovered. Jaw and skull material published in 2005 show that it had one of the longest skulls of any carnivorous dinosaur, said to be 1.75 meters (5.75 ft) long. The skull had a narrow snout filled with straight conical teeth that lacked serrations. There were six or seven teeth on each side of the very front of the upper jaw, in the premaxilla bones, and another twelve in both maxillae behind them. The second and third teeth on each side were noticeably larger than the rest of the teeth in the premaxilla, creating a space between them and the large teeth in the anterior maxilla; large teeth in the lower jaw faced this space. The very tip of the snout holding those few large anterior teeth was expanded, and a small crest was present in front of the eyes.

The sail of Spinosaurus was formed of very tall neural spines growing on the back vertebrae. These spines were seven to eleven times the height of the vertebrae from which they grew. The spines were slightly longer front to back at the base than higher up, and were unlike the thin rods seen in the pelycosaur finbacks Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon.

Jurassic Park III

Seen in Jurassic Park III as the main dinosaur, replacing Tyrannosaurus and living on Isla Sorna. Fans often wonder why the groups in The Lost World: Jurassic Park did not encounter any Spinosaurs. The only answer is that the events of The Lost World took place in the southeastern portion of the island, while JP3 took place in the northwestern part. This would also solve the question of why the second film takes place in coniferous forest and the third in lush jungle. The Spinosaurus' range didn't cover the southeastern part of the island, so the characters from TLW did not see it. When Dr. Grant and Billy where talking about what dinosaur it was, Billy said he didn't remember seeing Spinosaurus on the list of dinosaurs Hammond had cloned, leading us to believe that the scientists at InGen had been tampering with the DNA of dinosaurs that Hammond had not intended to resurrect.

When the JP£ group first encounter it on the island, it eats two mercenaries and chases the remaining "visitors" into the jungle, where they bump into a Tyrannosaurus, which chases them right back towards the Spinosaur. The two massive predators do battle, and the Tyrannosaurus bites on the Spinosaur's neck, though it manages to pull free. Th rex then headbutts its rival, but hesitates as the Spinosaurus gets up and clamps down on the rex's neck, twisting until a crack is heard. The group soon run ino the Spinosaurus again after hearing a cellphone call, which they then realize was last in the possession of someone eaten by the Spinosaurus, leading to another chase. It appears once more towards the end of the movie, attacking the group on a barge, but is soon frightened off when leaking gasoline from the boat's ruptured engine is ignited by a flare.

Operation Genesis

Spinosaurus can be seen in all its neck-snapping glory in Operation Genesis as a five-star large carnivore. It doesn't always come out on top over Tyrannosaurus in the game. More often than not, these confrontations end in one dinosaur standing down and fleeing, after which the loser will always flee when comes too close to the victor.

Jurassic Park: DNA Factor

The Spinosaurus appears as the boss of the game's penultimate stage. It appears to be far larger then it was in real life, dwarfing the Tyrannosaurus. During the stage, the player is running through the tops of several trees, and the Spinosaur chases the player and tries repeatedly to bite, which will depleat your health bar by half. To damage it, the player must pick up some of the bombs in the area and throw them at the rampaging reptile. There are an unlimited number of bombs to pick up, so running out isn't an issue. Sometimes the Spinosaurus crouches down under the trees and lunges up with its sail.

Jurassic Park: Island Attack

Spinosaurus appears twice in this game, but it's more of a stage hazard then an enemy. It can't be killed, and will just chase the player until a certain point in the stage is reached. It is first encountered at the beginning of the game, and then later at the climax.

External links

• Spinosaurus aegptiacus at DinoData.net
• Spinosaurus at the Dino Directory
• The Biggest Carnivore: Dino History Rewritten
• Spinosaurus Jaws
• Discover Magazine
• Spinosaurus on Wikipedia