Thursday, December 21, 2017

Baryonyx the Spinosaur

Baryonyx was a Theropod fish eating dinosaur of the early Cretaceous Period.  The first Baryonyx fossilized skeleton (partial skeleton) was found in England.  It appears that this was not a mature individual because some bones in its skull were not fused or ossified, but the dinosaur would have been 33 feet (10 meters) long and weighed close to two tons.  We now know that Baryonyx was a type of Spinosaur.  Spinosaurus was 55 feet (17 meters) long so perhaps Baryonyx grew to a much larger size. 

The end of the nose or snout of a Spinosaur like Baryonyx appear to have sensors to detect movement in water.  This would have been a great adaptation for fishing.  Baryonyx could sit in the water or stand in it with snout immersed...and he or she could feel the fish swim by and thus snap them up.  Modern crocodilians have this set of motion sensors on the end of their snouts or nose.   



Baryonyx the Spinosaur

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