Description
- Spinosaur Tooth
- Species: Spinosaurus sp.
- Age: Cretaceous, 66 Million Years Old
- Source: Morocco
- Size: 75mm
- Image shows exact item received.
Spinosaurs were massive theropod dinosaurs that lived around 100 to 93 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Instantly recognisable by the distinctive sail on their back and adaptations to a semi-aquatic adaptations. They were a group of theropods known for their piscivorous (fish-eating) habits. The most famous, and the families namesake: Spinosaurus is one of the largest theropods ever discovered reaching lengths of up to 14m and believed to weigh around the same as a bull African Elephant.
The majority of Spinosaur fossils have been found in North Africa, where they lived a semi-aquatic lifestyle along riverbeds and coastlines. Their long snout with large conical teeth gives their skull a crocodile-like appearance. The mouth of this dinosaur housed an assortment of teeth: two giant canines jutting out of its front upper jaw, a few bigger ones set further back in the snout, and a variety of straight, conical, grinding teeth in between. The teeth are the most commonly found fossil evidence of this impressive family of dinosaurs.
This fossil Spinosaurus tooth was found in Morocco in an area of sedimentary deposits known as the Kem Kem Beds. Many fossils have been found in this area, predominantly of fish as well as Pterosaurs and Theropod dinosaurs. Due to the estuarine and coastal habitat, along with the abundance of fish fossils it is believed many of the smaller to medium sized Pterosaurs and Dinosaurs in this area were piscivorous (fish-feeders); the abundance of prey in these areas harboured a diverse ecosystem and provided plenty of prey for Spinosaurus.
