Super Spinosaurus Pocket Fossil
Super Spinosaurus Pocket Fossil
The Super Spinosaurus Pocket Fossil is a dinosaur-age specimen you can take on the go! Within this box, you'll find an all-in-one scientific collection, featuring a fossilized Spinosaurus tooth, an informational authenticity card, and a beautiful illustration of the aquatic dinosaur!
Please note: All fossil teeth will show some sign of repair or damage. This specimen cannot be returned or exchanged.
The Super Spinosaurus Pocket Fossil box includes:
- One Fossil Spinosaurus Tooth (~1/2"-1")
- One Folding Information & Illustration Card
- One black charm box for safekeeping
The Pocket Fossil and Folding Card in hand!
SUPER SPINOSAURUS POCKET FOSSIL
Millions of years ago, the super Spinosaurus lurked in the Cretaceous swamps, an apex predator that devoured fish, aquatic reptiles, and even other dinosaurs. Topping out at just over 59ft long (18m), Spinosaurus is one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs ever discovered.
Nearly everything about Spinosaurus defies traditional thoughts about carnivorous dinosaurs. To begin, Spinosaurids are the only known family of semi-aquatic dinosaurs. They also had long, narrow skulls, almost crocodile-like in appearance, and their jaws were lined with conical teeth instead of the curved, blade-like ziphodont teeth of most theropods. The dinosaurs shed them quite often and were always growing replacements.
This specimen is one of these teeth, a pocket-sized fossil from a prehistoric Spinosaurus!
The Super Spinosaurus Pocket Fossil is a display box that contains a small, ~1/2"-1" fossil tooth, a folding informational card about the Spinosaurus, authenticity details, and a beautiful illustration of the prehistoric creature!
We wanted to put the most bang for your buck into this specimen. It's an all-in-one package that makes a great gift for kids, students, office parties, or just about anyone who loves learning about dinosaurs!
The tooth and folding card both fit snugly in the black 1 3/4" x 1 1/8" x 5/8" charm box, so it truly is a Pocket Fossil!
TEMPORAL RANGE: 112,000,000 TO 72,000,000 YEARS AGO
MORE ABOUT SPINOSAURUS
"Spinosaurus appears to have been poorly adapted to bipedal terrestrial locomotion. The forward position of the center of mass within the ribcage may have enhanced balance during foot-propelled locomotion in water." ~ Nizar Ibrahim, Paleontologist, University of Chicago
Topping out at just over 59ft long (18m), Spinosaurus is one of the largest carnivorous dinosaurs ever discovered. This family of giant theropods also happens to be among the most surprising creatures in the fossil record.
Nearly everything about Spinosaurus defies traditional thoughts about carnivorous dinosaurs. To begin, Spinosaurids are the only known family of semi-aquatic dinosaurs. They also had long, narrow skulls, almost crocodile-like in appearance, and their jaws were lined with conical teeth instead of the curved, blade-like ziphodont teeth of most theropods.
📸 A SMALL SPINOSAURUS VERTEBRA AND NEURAL SPINE SAIL (LEFT) COMPARED TO THE 20.2" DIMETRODON VERTEBRA (RIGHT). (SOURCE: MINI MUSEUM)
Spines of the Spinosaurus
As its name suggests, Spinosaurus also had elongated neural spines forming a massive dorsal sail.
In some species, the spines in the namesake sail measure more than 6ft (2m) in length, providing the framework for an impressive structure that would rise high above the water. The shape and function of this spine sail have been hotly debated topics. Some theories suggest that the sail wasn't a sail at all but a "fatty-hump".
However, a detailed reconstruction in 2014 concluded that the spines were too poorly vascularized to support such a structure and the spines were likely covered by skin and used for display. The same study also suggests that its limbs were somewhat shorter than previously thought, and appear to be specifically adapted to paddle-swimming like early whales.
📸 SPINOSAURUS SWIMMING 3D RENDER VIA IBRAHIM, NIZAR, ET AL. "SEMIAQUATIC ADAPTATIONS IN A GIANT PREDATORY DINOSAUR." SCIENCE 345.6204 (2014): 1613-1616.
📸 PLATE I IN STROMER (1915) SHOWING S. AEGYPTIACUS HOLOTYPE ELEMENTS
ORIGINAL HOLOTYPE DESTROYED
Explorer and fossil collector Richard Markgraf discovered the first Spinosaurus remains in 1912 near the Bahariya Oasis in Western Egypt. At the time, Markgraf was working for German paleontologist Ernst Stromer. He sent the partial remains to Stromer in Munich who announced the discovery in 1915 and named the species Spinosaurus aegyptiacus.
Then in 1944, the allied bombing of Munich destroyed Erich Stromer's entire dinosaur collection including the original, or holotype, specimen Spinosaurus aegyptiacus.
⭐ NEW SCIENCE!
UNDERWATER DINOSAURS
Recently, a brand new paper has turned the Spinosaurus' lifestyle on its head once more. A study of the animal's bone density shows Spinosaurus would have been quite heavy, which may have helped it submerge and hunt below the water as well. Without flippers, compacted bones may have been a solution for the species to move underwater.
Not only would this be a new way of looking at Spinosaurus, but it would change our understanding of all dinosaurs, as previously underwater hunting was only within the realm of marine reptiles outside the dinosaur group, such as mosasaurs and plesiosaurs.
Further Reading
Ibrahim, Nizar, et al. "Semiaquatic Adaptations in a Giant Predatory Dinosaur." Science 345.6204 (2014): 1613-1616.
Smith, Joshua B., et al. "New Information Regarding the Holotype of Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus Stromer, 1915." Journal of Paleontology 80.02 (2006): 400-406.
Stromer, Ernst. "Wirbeltier− Reste der Baharije− Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 3. Das Original des Theropoden Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus nov. gen. nov. spec." Abhandlungen der Königlichen Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch− Physikalische Klasse 28 (1915): 1-32.
Fabbri, Matteo, Guillermo Navalón, Roger BJ Benson, Diego Pol, Jingmai O’Connor, Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar, Gregory M. Erickson et al. "Subaqueous foraging among carnivorous dinosaurs." Nature (2022): 1-6.
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