SP
BravenNow
Meet Africa's 'hell heron': New spinosaurus species that hunted fish discovered in Sahara
| USA | general | ✓ Verified - nbcnews.com

Meet Africa's 'hell heron': New spinosaurus species that hunted fish discovered in Sahara

#Spinosaurus mirabilis #Sahara desert #Niger #Cretaceous period #Fish-hunting dinosaur #Paleontology discovery #Semiaquatic predator

📌 Key Takeaways

  • New Spinosaurus species discovered in Sahara desert
  • Dinosaur was massive fish-hunting predator with distinctive blade-like crest
  • Only second known Spinosaurus species, differing from the first in key anatomical features
  • Discovery resolves debate about dinosaur's aquatic capabilities

📖 Full Retelling

At a remote Sahara desert site in Niger, an international team of scientists led by University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno has unearthed fossils of a new Spinosaurus species, Spinosaurus mirabilis, among the largest known meat-eating dinosaurs, approximately 95 million years ago, expanding our understanding of this unique semiaquatic predator that hunted fish in ancient African waterways. The remarkable creature, nicknamed 'hell heron,' measured about 40 feet long and weighed 5-7 tons, featuring a distinctive 20-inch tall blade-like head crest resembling a scimitar, a sail-like structure on its back, and an elongated crocodile-like snout with interlocking teeth perfectly adapted for catching slippery fish. This discovery represents only the second known species of Spinosaurus, with the first, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, having been named in 1915 based on fossils from Egypt, though the new species differs with its larger crest, more elongated snout, and longer hind limbs. The fossils were found far inland, roughly 300-600 miles from the nearest ocean shoreline, providing crucial evidence that Spinosaurus was primarily a shallow-water predator rather than a fully aquatic dinosaur as some scientists had previously hypothesized.

🏷️ Themes

Paleontology, Evolution, Prehistoric life

📚 Related People & Topics

Cretaceous

Cretaceous

Third and last period of the Mesozoic Era

The Cretaceous (IPA: krih-TAY-shəss) is a geologic period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 Ma (million years ago). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ninth and longest geological period of the entire Phanerozoic.

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗
Spinosaurus mirabilis

Spinosaurus mirabilis

Species of theropod dinosaurs

Spinosaurus mirabilis (lit. 'astonishing spine lizard') is an extinct species of the large spinosaurid theropod dinosaur Spinosaurus, known from the Late Cretaceous Farak Formation of Niger. The species was named and described in 2026, based on various cranial and postcranial bones collected in two ...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗
Sahara

Sahara

Desert on the African continent

The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of 9,200,000 square kilometres (3,600,000 sq mi), it is the largest hot desert in the world and the third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Arctic. The name "Sahara" is derived f...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗
Niger

Niger

Landlocked country in West Africa

Niger, officially the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west, and Algeria to the northwest. It covers a land area of almost ...

View Profile → Wikipedia ↗

Entity Intersection Graph

Connections for Cretaceous:

🌐 Spinosaurus mirabilis 1 shared
🌐 Niger 1 shared
🌐 University of Chicago 1 shared
View full profile
Original Source
Fossils of huge 'hell heron' dinosaur unearthed in Niger Spinosaurus, the only known semiaquatic dinosaur predator, joins Tyrannosaurus, Giganotosaurus and Carcharodontosaurus among the largest meat-eating dinosaurs. An illustration of the Spinosaurus mirabilis dinosaur some 95 million years ago in what is now the Sahara Desert in Niger. Dani Navarro / via Reuters Share Add NBC News to Google Feb. 20, 2026, 4:56 AM EST Listen to this article with a free account 00:00 00:00 At a remote and barren Sahara desert site in Niger, scientists have unearthed fossils of a new species of Spinosaurus, among the biggest of the meat-eating dinosaurs, notable for its large blade-shaped head crest and jaws bearing interlocking teeth for snaring slippery fish. It prowled a forested inland environment and strode into rivers to catch sizable fish like a modern-day wading bird — a “hell heron,” as one of the researchers put it, considering it was about 40 feet long and weighed 5-7 tons. The dinosaur presented a striking profile on the Cretaceous Period landscape of Africa some 95 million years ago as it hunted large fish like coelacanths in the region’s waterways. Its bony cranial crest, about 20 inches tall, resembled a curved sword called a scimitar, and it had a large sail-like structure on its back and an elongated crocodile-like snout. Along with the existing genus name Spinosaurus, meaning “spine lizard,” the researchers gave it the species name mirabilis, meaning “astonishing,” referring to its crest. A genus is a group of closely related species bearing similar traits. For example, lions and tigers are the same genus but different species. Add NBC News to Google Dinosaur fossil found under Denver museum parking lot 01:46 It is only the second known species of Spinosaurus, a dinosaur that has gained fame in popular culture for its depiction in the “Jurassic Park” movies. The other one, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, was named in 1915 based on fossils from Egypt. Spinosaurus, the only ...
Read full article at source

Source

nbcnews.com

More from USA

News from Other Countries

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

🇺🇦 Ukraine