Spinosaurus
The Spinosaurus was a spectacular dinosaur with a huge sail-like structure that protruded from his spine. Because the Spinosaurus is thought to have lived in warm climates, the sail may have been used for heat exchange.
The great debate over whether dinosaurs were hot or cold blooded is played around the Spinosaurus's spine. If it were indeed used to cool the body in shade and turned to the sun to warm the body when it was cold, this argues for a possibly cold blooded beast. Another explanation for the sail is that it may have been used for ornamental display in sexual rituals or even as a means of intimidating territorial rivals as in peacocks or turkeys.
The Spinosaurus is sometimes confused with the Dimetradon because of the similar sail. However, the Dimetradon walked on all fours while the Spinosaurus walked on his hind limbs. In other words, the Spinosaurus was a Therapod which means that he had bird-like feet in the manner of most of the meat eating dinosaurs.
His huge frame, up to 50 feet in length, made the Spinosaurus a fearsome beast. He is thought to have weighed as much as 7 3/4 tons (15,500 pounds). He was roughly similar in size to the Tyrannosaurus. Though the Spinosaurus did not have as spectacular a head and mouth as Tyrannosaurus, he did have greater, bulkier arms that may have been useful for grappling with prey. His diet was likely to have been the large plant-eating dinosaurs that traversed his path.
Spinosaurus generally walked the country-side on his two hind legs, with his body and tail balanced over them. His massive tail, though, might have been useful as a weapon as well. Spinosaurus lived during the Cretaceous Period of the Mesozoic Era some 98-95 million years ago.
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W.J. Rayment
Interesting Link: Spinosaurus Woodkit
