Spinosaurus facts for kids

Meet Spinosaurus

Its name means spine lizard. It was named after the long spines on its back that held up its sail. The sail could be about 1.5 metres high.

It was a theropod, a meat-eater. Many scientists think it walked on two legs, but some think it went on all fours. It was one of the longest meat-eating dinosaurs, perhaps 14 to 18 metres long, but nobody has found a complete skeleton, so estimates differ.

A fish-eater

Spinosaurus ate meat, and fish most of all. Spinosaurus caught fish with long, crocodile-like jaws and cone-shaped teeth.

It had short legs, and scientists think it lived in and around water.

Lost in a war

The first Spinosaurus bones were found in Egypt in 1912. They were kept in a museum in Munich, which was bombed in 1944. Only drawings and photos survived.

When and where did it live?

In the Cretaceous, about 95 million years ago, in North Africa. Its fossils have been found in Egypt and Morocco.

Spinosaurus in a nutshell

• Name means: spine lizard
• Lived: about 95 million years ago, in the Cretaceous
• Ate: meat
• Length: about 14 to 18 metres (estimates differ, as no complete skeleton has been found)
• Found in: Egypt and Morocco

Quick quiz: Spinosaurus

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