Paleontologists discover unique style of underwater hunting for sailing dinosaurs | Top Vip News

The huge sailing dinosaur, Spinosaurus, may have hunted in shallow water similar to a heron, rather than in deep water as previously believed. Spinosaurus aegyptiacus was one of the largest predators to roam the Earth during the Cretaceous period, the last era of dinosaurs. According to a study published in PLOS ONE, these species, native to Africa, weighed around seven tons, exceeding the weight of a male African elephant. Nathan Myhrvold, one of the authors of the study, mentioned: “It is a very distinctive looking dinosaur due to its enormous ‘sail’ on its back.”

Paleontologists generally agree that Spinosaurus was a fish-eating dinosaur. However, there has been ongoing debate about their lifestyle and hunting methods. Some studies propose that these dinosaurs waded or swam in shallow waters near the coast to capture their prey. Other studies suggest that Spinosaurus was an aquatic predator that pursued its prey by diving deep into the waters.

The authors of the new study performed a new analysis, reevaluating the dinosaur’s bone density to determine its aquatic habits. They also referenced a previous study that supports the idea that Spinosaurus dove into deep water to hunt its prey.

The study in question, led by Matteo Fabbri of the Field Museum of Natural History, was published in the journal Nature in 2020. In the new study, the authors argued that the 2020 study may have notable flaws. “We showed that the data set they used for their method was not suitable; Many statistical methods only work effectively if the data have specific characteristics. Fabbri et al’s data did not have the required characteristics,” Myhrvold explained.

Myhrvold and his team stated that this hypothesis is biologically implausible. They noted that Spinosaurus, like many other dinosaurs, had air sacs in its spinal bones, giving it so much buoyancy that diving would have been impossible. “Therefore, the density of thigh bones and ribs does not indicate whether a dinosaur could dive,” Myhrvold explained. Although the new study does not definitively settle the debate, Myhrvold said his goal was to refute the notion that Spinosaurus hunted underwater. The findings suggest that the dinosaur was not a predator that swam or dived in search of fish.

“We found no bone density evidence to suggest that Spinosaurus was anything more than what we have inferred from many other lines of evidence in previous research: a fish-eating, semi-aquatic predator that prowled coastal and shallow waters, ambushing to prey of various sizes,” said Paul Sereno, another author of the PLOS ONE study affiliated with the University of Chicago.

“It may have lurked in shallow water to ambush fish, similar to how a heron does,” Myhrvold added. In response, Fabbri stated: “We do not believe that his data supports his conclusions.” He further explained: “Myrvhold et al. “They suggest that high bone density is only present in the legs, but this is incorrect: we detect high density in the spines of the sail and tail, in the ribs and even in the bones that make up the hand.”