New research from Queen Mary University of London and the University of Maryland has reignited the debate around the behavior of the giant dinosaur Spinosaurus. Since its discovery in 1915, the biology and behavior of the enormous Spinosaurus has puzzled paleontologists worldwide. It was recently argued that the dinosaur was largely an aquatic predator, using its large tail to swim and actively pursue fish in the water.
The new study, published Tuesday in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica, challenges this recent view of Spinosaurus indicating it likely fed from the water, and suggests that it was like a giant heron or stork — snatching at fish from the shoreline while also taking any other small available prey on land or in water.
The researchers compared the features of Spinosaurus with the skulls and skeletons of other dinosaurs and various living and extinct reptiles that lived on land, in the water or did both. They found that whilst there were several pieces of evidence that contradicted the aquatic pursuit predator concept, none contradicted the wading heron-like model.
In a report published on the Queen Mary University's website, Co-author Tom Holtz, principal lecturer in Vertebrae Paleontology, University of Maryland, said: "Spinosaurus was a bizarre animal even by dinosaur standards, and unlike anything alive today, so trying to understand its ecology will always be difficult. We sought to use what evidence we have to best approximate its way of life. And what we found did not match the attributes one would expect in an aquatic pursuit predator in the manner of an otter, sea lion, or short-necked plesiosaur."
