Spinosaurus News ~

[GuateGojira]

(09-12-2018, 08:03 PM)genao87 Wrote: I see,  so the P. Tigers and the Cave "Lions" we can assume would be roughly the same size.

For Barbourofelis and Nimravidae...was more interested if these guys were cats again since there was some talk in the past that they should be part of the Cat Family.  I guess that is not the case.   As for Spinosaurus,  I thought there were more fossils found since there was new news about it being a bad swimmer.   Strange how it could be a bad swimmer yet designed for water like a croc.   I was hoping this meant it could be more bipedal looking like in the past so it can be more of a match against other predatory dinos such as T. Rex.  

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/scien...95758716=1

Based in what we have, yes, I think that these two species were about the same size, for the moment. But taking in count my previous analisys about "average-sized" specimens and the rarity of the "maximum-sized" specimens, the tigers have the advantage as the few bones known are already as large as the largest cave "lion" specimens, which are know for a very large sample.

About the Spinosaurus, I did not knew about that new study, thank you for sharing it! I was reading the conclusions but I am agree with Dr Ibrahim, the study is far from conclusive as this is just a simulation, also I am happy that new fossils will arrive and will provide more information, which is excelent.

Other thing, I think, and many other too, that Spinosaurus was not like an Alligator in the water, but more like a Bear. This is nothing new, but it seems that is the contradiction in the Dr Henderson study. In fact, Henderson accept that in the interview! The final answer came from Dr David Hone: "swimming is by no means the litmus test for a life aquatic". Probably Spinosaurus had good swiming capabilities but that doesn't mean that they spend they entire life in the water. The articel says: “Herons aren't very good at swimming, but they spend most of their time knee-deep in water, wading around the edge of rivers,” he says. “ 'Semiaquatic' might be a push, but you're definitely talking about an animal whose ecology is fundamentally linked to water.”

Spinosaurus was especifically linked to water, so it will be absurd that it will not have some "aquatic" habilities. Like I said, it was like a bear. Bears are not designed to dive, but they can do it for short times. So, that is the answer.

Now, about Spinosaurus vs T.rex, no land predator, present or extinct, will be a rival for the Tyrannosaurus rex, on land at least. In the words of Dr Henry Orborn: "Tyrannosaurus is the most superb carnivorous mechanism among the terrestrial Vertebrata, in which raptorial destructive power and speed are combined". Reply