Spinosaurus

"It's a superpredator."

- Billy Brennan

Spinosaurus ("spined lizard") is a theropod dinosaur that existed in what is now North Africa, from the Albian to early Cenomanian stages of the Cretaceous Period, about 112 to 97 million years ago. According to recent estimates, Spinosaurus is the largest of all known carnivorous dinosaurs, even larger than Tyrannosaurus and Giganotosaurus. These estimates suggest that it was around 17 meters in length (57 feet) and up to 12 tons in weight, although these figures have not yet been universally accepted, since its fossils are so rare. This genus was first known from a set of Egyptian remains discovered in 1912 and described in 1915 by German paleontologist and aristocrat Ernst Stromer. These original remains were sadly destroyed in an Allied bombing run over Berlin during World War II, but additional skull material has come to light in recent years. It is unclear whether one or two species are represented in the described fossils. The best known species is Spinosaurus aegyptiacus from Egypt, although a potential second species named Spinosaurus maroccanus has been discovered in Morocco in recent times.

In the film, it serves as the main antagonist. The distinctive "spines" on the animal's back, which were long extensions of the vertebrae, grew up to 2 meters long and were likely to have had skin connecting them, forming a sail-like structure, although some have suggested that they were covered in muscle and formed a hump or ridge. Multiple functions have been put forward for this structure, including thermoregulation and display. Dr. Grant also mentions in the movie how the Spinosaurus was not on InGen's list of dinosaurs, meaning that it was a top secret experiment that was hidden from the public.

Description and Statistics
Although Spinosaurus is well-known to dinosaur enthusiasts due to its sail and elongated skull, it is mostly known from remains that have been destroyed, aside from a few more recently discovered teeth and skull elements. Additionally, so far only the skull and backbone have been described in detail, and limb bones have not yet been recovered. Some speculation occurs in arguments among scientists and paleontologists that the Spinosaurus aegyptiacus may have walked on all four limbs, but most are not convinced. It is clearly bipedal.

Jaw and skull material published in 2005 show that it had one of the longest skulls of any carnivorous dinosaur, said to be 1.75 meters (5.75 ft) long. The skull had a narrow snout filled with straight conical teeth that lacked serrations. There were six or seven teeth on each side of the very front of the upper jaw, in the premaxilla bones, and another twelve in both maxillae behind them. The second and third teeth on each side were noticeably larger than the rest of the teeth in the premaxilla, creating a space between them and the large teeth in the anterior maxilla; large teeth in the lower jaw faced this space. The very tip of the snout holding those few large anterior teeth was expanded, and a small crest was present in front of the eyes

The sail of Spinosaurus was formed of very tall neural spines growing on the back vertebrae. These spines were seven to eleven times the height of the vertebrae from which they grew. The spines were slightly longer front to back at the base than higher up, and were unlike the thin rods seen in the pelycosaur finbacks Edaphosaurus and Dimetrodon, the two sailed pelicosaurians from the Permian period.

The size of the Spinosaurus in Jurassic Park III is listed at 43 feet long and 16 feet tall (19 feet at the top of the fin), although the animatronic stood 20 feet (6.1 meters) and weighed 26,000 lbs (12 tons), making it the largest dinosaur made in Jurassic Park III. It is unknown whether the individual seen in the film was a male or female. But due to it's territorial behavior it could likely be a male, and also because it's got a colorful sail, it was probably an attraction for females. It could only reach speeds around 15 mph on land. It appears in the Jurassic Park Redemption series on the cover of the 1# book and possibly in the book.

Behavior in Jurassic Park
The Spinosaurus was a fish eater as well as taking on prey of all sizes on land and probably spent most of its time around water. Its crocodile-like mouth was full of teeth used for impaling fish, holding prey and stopping them or small dinosaurs from struggling, they were not serrated and it could not use them to tear flesh. Its massive claws were used for fishing and hunting other large dinosaurs like Paralititan or defense. It is the biggest carnivore on the island of Isla Sorna, and it's believed there is only one Spinosaurus on the island.

It should be noted that before chasing Eric and Grant by the fence, the Spinosaurus is seen standing in just one spot, staring at the group right after they realize its nearby in a true villainous fashion. This behavior is present in modern animals, including humans, crocodiles, and snakes.

Jurassic Park III
The Spinosaurus is the main "antagonist" in the Jurassic Park III film. The creature is first seen in living on Isla Sorna, fans often wonder why the groups in  did not encounter any Spinosaurus. The only answer is that the events of The Lost World took place in the southeastern portion of the island, while JP3 took place in the northwestern part. This would also solve the question of why the second film takes place in coniferous forest and the third in lush jungle. The Spinosaurus‘ range didn't cover the southeastern part of the island, so the characters from TLW did not see it. When Dr. Grant and Billy were talking about what dinosaur it was, Billy said he didn't remember seeing Spinosaurus on the list of dinosaurs Hammond had cloned, leading us to believe that the scientists at InGen had been tampering with the DNA of dinosaurs that Hammond had not intended to resurrect. However, it was most likely mistaken for Baryonyx when they made the animals, assuming that newly hatched/young Spinosaurus were not born with sails, but, instead, developed them as they matured.

The first encounter with it may have been the scene with the Dino-Soar boat. The reason for this is the Spinosaurus chased the people in the river during the boat attack scene, thus showing that it can hunt its prey in water, however this is not conclusive as other theories exist.

When the JP3 group first encounter it on the island, it eats two of the mercenaries and chases the remaining "visitors" into the jungle, where they bump into a male Tyrannosaurus, which, ironically, chases them right back towards the Spinosaurus. The two massive predators see each other, and a fight breaks out over food and territory. After a quick, but brutal fight, the Spinosaurus eventually kills the T. rex, by breaking it's neck, thus giving the group the chance they need to escape as the Spinosaurus eats its new kill. The group soon runs into the Spinosaurus again after hearing a satellite phone ring, which they then realize was last in the possession of someone eaten by the Spinosaurus, leading to another chase resulting in the group barely escaping the jaws of the super predator. It appears once more towards the end of the movie, attacking the group on a barge, nearly drowning most of the group and almost eating Paul Kirby. But is soon frightened off when leaking gasoline from the boat's ruptured engine is ignited by a flare shot by Dr. Grant.

Toy Lines


Spinosaurus appears in The Lost World Series 1, JP3 and JP CamoXtreme and the recent jp 2k9 Toy lines. Because The Lost World Series 1 was released before recent scientific discoveries, the Spinosaurus here is very inaccurate. It also has a different code name, "Slice". It is way too small, could possibly be a juvenile and features the oldschool megalosaur-like head. The toy from the third movie is more accurate with its crocodile like head. It came in two sizes, one in the same size as The Lost World version and a big one.

In Video Games
The Spinosaurus has appeared in all games based on Jurassic Park III.



Jurassic Park: DNA Factor
The Spinosaurus appears as the boss of the game's penultimate stage. During the stage, the player is running through the tops of several trees, and the Spinosaurus chases the player and tries repeatedly to bite. To damage it, the player must pick up some of the bombs in the area and throw them at the rampaging reptile. Sometimes the Spinosaurus crouches down under the trees and lunges up with its sail.

Jurassic Park III: Park Builder
Spinosaurus also appears in Jurassic Park III: Park Builder.

Jurassic Park Operation Genesis
Spinosaurus can be seen in all its neck-snapping glory in Operation Genesis as a five-star large carnivore. It doesn't always come out on top over Tyrannosaurus in the game. It has the ability to kill any dinosaur (with the exception of Brachiosaurus due to its immense size) it wishes to fight or eat if it has the strength or courage. The Spinosaurus whenever coming out of its' hatchery is almost always inspecting for other dinosaurs to claim territory. This proves that Spinosaurus is the most selfish, ill-tempered dinosaur and the most territory-demanding in the game. Whenever meeting a T. rex it tends to whack its mouth in a territorial manner to drive it away and when it doesn't it engages in a death duel. Spinosaurus is the largest carnivore in JPOG.

Jurassic Park: Island Attack
Spinosaurus appears twice in this game, but it's more of a stage hazard then an enemy. It can't be killed, and will just chase the player until a certain point in the stage is reached. It is first encountered at the beginning of the game, and then later at the climax.

Warpath: Jurassic Park
Before it's appearance in the movie series, Spinosaurus appeared in the Warpath video game for the PSX. Here, due to the game being made before recent scientific discoveries, the Spinosaurus has a body shape more similar to that of an Allosaurus rather than it's current, scientifically accurate, crocodilian-like features. Also, its attack patterns was the same as the Megaraptor. This is because the original Spinosaurus fossil destroyed during Allied bombings on Berlin in WWII.

Dino Defender
Spinosaurus appears around 3 times in the game. It can be seen fighting a T. rex near the end of the game.

Danger Zone
Spinosaurus appears anytime in the game.

Jurassic Park: Survival
The Spinosaurus was to have appeared in the scrapped game Jurassic Park: Survival.

Jurassic Park: Builder
Spinosaurus is one of the available dinosaurs in the IOS application, Jurassic Park: Builder.

Inaccuracies

 * The JP3 Spinosaurus had two crests on its head, while a real Spinosaurus only had one.
 * The JP3 Spinosaurus was depicted swimming like a crocodilian - undulating its tail - but at the time, it was believed that tetaturan ("stiff-tailed") theropods swam by paddling with their feet, as the tendons in their tails were believed to reduce flexibility. But a recent Velociraptor fossil depicts its tail in a curved position, demonstrating that even the theropods with the stiffest tails still retained a high degree of flexibility. However, this was discovered long after the making of the film, so the JP Spinosaurus‘s method of swimming was intended to be an inaccurate creative license. They had no way of knowing that it was actually correct.
 * In JP3, Spinosaurus is seen killing the T. rex by snapping it's neck, in real life, since the Rex had bitten down on its neck at the beginning of the fight and it has such a powerful bite, it would've killed the spine-lizard. However, we would not be able to determine the winner since both carnivores lived in different time periods as well as lands.

Trivia

 * The Spinosaurus is the main dinosaur antagonist in, recognized as the dinosaur on the teaser posters (along from the Velociraptor family in the film).
 * Originally the Baryonyx was supposed to be the main dinosaur in the film, but it was replaced by the Spinosaurus because Baryonyx was too small.
 * Although it is the largest predatory dinosaur on the island, it was, ironically, much smaller than its real-life counterpart, which is now believed to grow up to 57 feet long.
 * It is the second theropod to battle a T. rex in the movies. The first were the Velociraptors from the first film, although the raptors died.
 * The Spinosaurus is also the main antagonist in JP III-based games.
 * The Spinosaurus was originally going to be killed by a pack of  Velociraptors,   however this scene was cut from the filming schedule    .
 * The Spinosaurus was originally going to fight the marines, however this scene was cut from the filming schedule.
 * The ringing of the phone in the Spinosaurus's stomach is likely an homage to the crocodile from Peter Pan, whom had swallowed an alarm clock that went off every time it was near, thus alerting others to it presence.