Giant predatory dinosaurs could hunt underwater

Illustration of the Spinosaurus Credit: Davide Bonadonna A new study published in Nature reveals that Spinosaurus, among the largest carnivorous dinosaurs ever discovered, could hunt underwater. New research by a multi-institution team including the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge used X-ray imaging of fossilised bones to analyse bone density. By comparing the bone structure of living animals and birds that forage in the water, researchers found strong evidence that dinosaurs from the spinosaurid family swam underwater to search for prey. Spinosaurid dinosaurs look like T. rex , but with a long, narrow snout and short legs. They include species like Spinosaurus from northern Africa, and Baryonyx from England, and were first discovered in 1915. Spinosaurus was similar in size to T. rex , weighing up to 7 tonnes, with a large crest-like sail across its back. Fossilised gut contents show that spinosaurids were amphibious hunters - eating both surf and turf - but it has been debated whether they caught fish in the water like a crocodile or hunted from the shallows like a heron.