The huge African predator Spinosaurus spent much of its life in the water, propelled by a paddle-like tail while hunting large fish — a “river monster,” scientists say, that showed that some dinosaurs invaded the aquatic realm.
Scientists on Wednesday announced the discovery of fossil bones from the tail of a Spinosaurus in southeastern Morocco that provided a deeper understanding of the appearance, lifestyle and capabilities of the longest meat-eating dinosaur on record.
“Spinosaurus had a highly specialized tail — a propulsive structure that would have allowed this river monster to actively pursue prey in the water column,” said University of Detroit Mercy paleontologist and anatomist Nizar Ibrahim, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
Photo: Reuters
Spinosaurus was a highly unusual dinosaur, and not just because of its staggering dimensions — up to 15m long and 6.4 tonnes.
The anatomy of Spinosaurus had remained mysterious for decades after crucial fossils were destroyed during World War II until the 2008 discovery of the Morocco skeleton, with the additional tail bones dug up since 2015.
Its tail was flexible with a large surface area thanks to a series of tall neural spines — different from the stiff and tapering tails of other carnivorous dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex — indicating that Spinosaurus and its close relatives engaged in tail-propelled locomotion unlike any other dinosaurs.
Laboratory experiments in which a plastic model of the Spinosaurus tail was attached to a robotic swimming device showed that the tail could move laterally to create thrust and power the animal through water like a crocodile, said Harvard University fish biologist and biomechanist George Lauder, a study coauthor.
This indicates that Spinosaurus terrorized rivers and river banks as a semi-aquatic animal, not merely wading into the water waiting for fish to swim by. It might have eaten huge fish, including sharks.
“This discovery overturns decades-old ideas that non-bird dinosaurs were restricted to terrestrial environments,” said Harvard University vertebrate paleontologist and biomechanist Stephanie Pierce, a study coauthor. “So, yes, we believe that this discovery does indeed revolutionize our understanding of dinosaur biology.”
Showcasing phallus-shaped portable shrines and pink penis candies, Japan’s annual fertility festival yesterday teemed with tourists, couples and families elated by its open display of sex. The spring Kanamara Matsuri near Tokyo features colorfully dressed worshipers carrying a trio of giant phallic-shaped objects as they parade through the street with glee. The festival, as legend has it, honors a local blacksmith in the Edo Period (1603-1868) who forged an iron dildo to break the teeth of a sharp-toothed demon inhabiting a woman’s vagina that had been castrating young men on their wedding nights. A 1m black steel phallus sits in the courtyard of
HIGH HOPES: The power source is expected to have a future, as it is not dependent on the weather or light, and could be useful for places with large desalination facilities A Japanese water plant is harnessing the natural process of osmosis to generate renewable energy that could one day become a common power source. The possibility of generating power from osmosis — when water molecules pass from a less salty solution to a more salty one — has long been known. However, actually generating energy from that has proved more complicated, in part due the difficulty of designing the membrane through which the molecules pass. Engineers in Fukuoka, Japan, and their private partners think they might have cracked it, and have opened what is only the world’s second osmotic power plant. It generates
JAN. 1 CLAUSE: As military service is voluntary, applications for permission to stay abroad for over three months for men up to age 45 must, in principle, be granted A little-noticed clause in sweeping changes to Germany’s military service policy has triggered an uproar after it emerged that the law requires men aged up to 45 to get permission from the armed forces before any significant stay abroad, even in peacetime. The legislation, which went into effect on Jan. 1 aims to bolster the military and demands all 18-year-old men fill out a questionnaire to gauge their suitability to serve in the armed forces, but stops short of conscription. If the “modernized” model fails to pull in enough recruits, parliament will be compelled to discuss the reintroduction of compulsory service, German
Hundreds of Filipinos and tourists flocked to a sun-bleached field north of Manila yesterday, on Good Friday, to witness one of the country’s most blood-soaked displays of religious fervor, undeterred by rising fuel prices. Scores of bare-chested flagellants with covered faces walked barefoot through the dusty streets of Pampanga Province’s San Fernando as they flogged their backs with bamboo whips in the scorching heat. Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists said they saw devotees deliberately puncturing their skin with glass shards attached to a small wooden paddle to ensure their bleeding during the ritual, a way to atone for sins and seek miracles from
RSS