User:PaleoGeekSquared/sandbox2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spinosauridae (meaning "spined lizards") is a family of megalosauroidean theropod dinosaurs.
Spinosaurids | |
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Skeletal reconstruction of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Clade: | Dinosauria |
Clade: | Saurischia |
Clade: | Theropoda |
Clade: | †Carnosauria (?) |
Family: | †Spinosauridae Stromer, 1915 |
Type species | |
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus Stromer, 1915 | |
Subgroups | |
Synonyms | |
They were large bipedal carnivores with elongated, crocodile-like skulls lined with conical teeth bearing little to no serrations, and small crests on top of their heads. The teeth in the front end of their lower jaws fanned out into a spoon-shaped structure called a rosette, which gave the animal a characteristic look. Their shoulders were robust and prominent, bearing relatively large forelimbs with enlarged claws on the first digit of their hands. Many genera exhibited unusually elongated neural spines, which might have supported sails/humps of skin or fat tissue. Spinosaurus, from which the family, subfamily, and tribe borrow their name, is the largest known terrestrial predator known from the fossil record, and might have measured up to 15 m (49 ft) in length.[1]
Most spinosaurids lived during the Cretaceous Period, and fossils of them have been recovered worldwide, including Africa, Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia. Their diets were composed mostly of aquatic prey, additional fossil evidence indicating they fed opportunistically on other animals like small dinosaurs and pterosaurs. Osteological analyses also suggest a semiaquatic lifestyle for some members of this clade.