The Spinosaurus, Star of Jurassic Park 3

Spinosaurus, which means "spine lizard" lived approximately 95 million years ago and is the largest predatory dinosaur. It measured around 40 to 50 feet and weighed up to 8 tons. It had large neural spines that measured up to 6 feet long sticking out of its back vertebrae. It is best known as the star of the movie, Jurassic Park 3.

These dinosaurs' fossils are longer than both the T-Rex and the Gigantosaurus, but the Spinosaurus was built much lighter than the two. But, like the T-Rex and the Gigantosaurus, the Spinosaurus was a theropod, or a dinosaur that stood on two legs. This dinosaur is thought to have lived during the Cretaceous period in what is now Egypt in northern Africa, and most fossil finds have been from the Sahara Desert.

Experts believe that Spinosaurus fed on fish and small to medium-sized animals with their crocodile-like jaws, long slender snout and long and sharp non-serrated teeth. Some paleontologists think that Spinosaurus may have been a scavenger and they ate rotting animal carcasses.

This dinosaur featured long spines covered with skin called a sail or fin. Paleontologists are still uncertain what the sail was used for. Most believe that it helped maintain body temperature and was used to attract the opposite sex. With the sail raised, this dinosaur looked twice its size, which scared off any enemies. The Spinosaurus also had large arms which some experts believe meant that the dinosaur could have walked both on two legs and four legs.

The Spinosaurus was first discovered by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer in 1912. The specimen was destroyed during a World War II bombing raid on Munich, Germany, but drawings and information about the find survived.

The movie, Jurassic Park 3, portrayed the Spinosaurus battling and defeating the Tyrannosaurus. Actually this wouldn't really be possible, as they lived millions of years and miles apart. There are a few museums in the world with Spinosaurus remains. One of these museums is the Canadian Museum of Nature, which has some vertebrae, teeth and a few other bones. These fossils were dug up in Morocco by a collector.

Scientists still have many unanswered questions, which hopefully will be answered if more fossils are discovered.

Sources:

http://www.spinosaurus.org/
http://spinosaurus.com/
http://www.fossils-facts-and-finds.com/spinosaurus.html