Spinosaurus new look!

[A.Garcia]

I had two toy-related thoughts about the news, and it looks like others here have already articulated them as well. Looking at the life restoration, it reminded me of the orange Wild Safari Spinosaurus, with the similar profile of dorsal spines, and also being quadruped-y (though as bizarre as knuckle-walking is as an idea, it can't beat the weight-bearing palm with re-grown fourth fingers ). I also wouldn't want to see a toy released just to be the "first"-- I can imagine an uncomfortable "telephone game" result, of interpretation (or misinterpretation) upon interpretation.

Anyway, it looks like Andrea Cau is providing some insight into the lead-up to the paper and its interpretations on his Theropoda blog.

[DinoLord]

As uncertain as the exact limb proportions are, the new media coverage on Spinosaurus has resulted in some pretty funny pictures on DeviantArt (credit goes to HodariNundu and Christopher252 respectively).

[fabricious]

I absolutely adore the one with the T. rex!

[Meso-Cenozoic]

This was from the Washington Post yesterday. 9/12/14

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

One of the best ones...

I don't get all the " first proof of swimming dinosaur" stuff..we've had trackways showing probable swimming for years..it's quite likely many dinos ventured out into the water.

[Meso-Cenozoic]

Yeah, me too Blade. BTW, loving the cartoons!!

These depictions are kind of cool...

[Balaur]

All very good illustrations.

Blade, when people are saying "swimming dinosaur", I think they are talking about the first dinosaur adapted to aquatic life. We know they can swim, but, this one goes up to eleven.

[amanda]

I think it is about selling the idea to the general public. Needs to be sensational and have a "hook". Swimming dinosaur fits that bill.

[Meso-Cenozoic]

The idea that the sail was used for regulating heat makes even more sense if he spent a lot of time swimming in the water.

This statue by Geomodel, made for the Dinosauri in carne e ossa (Dinosaurs in the flesh) exhibition, was said to be made with the new physical evidence in mind.
Check out their site! I like most of their models and the colors they use... http://www.geomodel.it/en/

I think he's pretty awesome looking...


Here he is about to kill Jack Horner.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

All very good illustrations.

Blade, when people are saying "swimming dinosaur", I think they are talking about the first dinosaur adapted to aquatic life. We know they can swim, but, this one goes up to eleven.

If so, that's more conjecture though right?

I mean they are really guessing it had these adaptations for swimming.  I don't see that discovered any mummified webbing between the toes or anything.  It seems to me many theropods would be good at swimming.  With large thick muscled tails to propel themselves through the water.

[fabricious]

Is it just me or does the Geomodel Spinosaurus actually look like it has longer legs than were published in the paper?

[amargasaurus cazaui]

The adaptations that this dinosaur had for being a swimmer went far beyond just speculation or webbed feet. For instance nostrils placed at the midcenter of the skull that were retractable...dense leg bones, that are virtually unknown for any other theropod, and the deep tail for movement in water. There are at least a dozen adaptions laid out in the paper that were established using the fossil evidence.

[Dinoguy2]

All very good illustrations.

Blade, when people are saying "swimming dinosaur", I think they are talking about the first dinosaur adapted to aquatic life. We know they can swim, but, this one goes up to eleven.

If so, that's more conjecture though right?

I mean they are really guessing it had these adaptations for swimming.  I don't see that discovered any mummified webbing between the toes or anything.  It seems to me many theropods would be good at swimming.  With large thick muscled tails to propel themselves through the water.

The flattened toe claws are usually a decent indicator of webbing in modern swimming animals too.

[DinoLord]

Does anyone else remember seeing the Geomodel Spinosaurus 2-3 years ago? It's definitely been around for a while.

[Paleogene Pals]

So all I can think about right now is that I shelled out a great deal of money on the Sideshow Spinosaurus. And, now it is no longer accurate! 

[stargatedalek]

doesn't need to be accurate to be cool

[Meso-Cenozoic]

Does anyone else remember seeing the Geomodel Spinosaurus 2-3 years ago? It's definitely been around for a while.

Andrew, you're right. I think the article I read on this model said it was being built already back in late 2010 and was on display by 2011. But it also said that the back legs were built shorter to go with the most recent findings. I did also read an article from 2010 that speculated that Spino was possibly more of a swimmer than a land hunter because of recent findings. So I'm not sure what was happening new back in 2010-2011. The very newest discoveries were this year, right?

[tyrantqueen]

So all I can think about right now is that I shelled out a great deal of money on the Sideshow Spinosaurus. And, now it is no longer accurate! 

It's still a beautiful statue

[amanda]

But see, Spinosaurus models/toys/statues were never "accurate' since so much of the animal was conjecture and educated guesses based on other related species. Are any of you surprised the real animal could be far odder than that? One constant, one thing we know about any dinosaur is that we don't really "KNOW".....

[DinoLord]

Does anyone else remember seeing the Geomodel Spinosaurus 2-3 years ago? It's definitely been around for a while.

Andrew, you're right. I think the article I read on this model said it was being built already back in late 2010 and was on display by 2011. But it also said that the back legs were built shorter to go with the most recent findings. I did also read an article from 2010 that speculated that Spino was possibly more of a swimmer than a land hunter because of recent findings. So I'm not sure what was happening new back in 2010-2011. The very newest discoveries were this year, right?

The famed National Geographic picture with the backview of the people gazing at the new Spinosaurus skeleton was only released a few weeks ago, and the paper/press release has only been out for a few days. However in the articles I've read it seems like these fossils were first discovered around 2009 or so - perhaps the sculptor of that statue got early notice of the findings?