Picture the fearsome creatures of “Jurassic Park” crossed with the shark from “Jaws.” Super-size it. And then add a crocodile snout as big as a person and feet like a duck’s. The result gives you some idea of a dinosaur scientists unveiled Thursday. This patchwork of critters, a predatory dinosaur that grew to at least 50 feet in length, is the only dinosaur known to have lived much of its life in the water. The beast, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, was already known to scientists from a long-ago fossil discovery, but most of those bones were destroyed in Germany during World War II. Now, 70 years later, a new skeleton found in Morocco reveals that the beast was far more aquatic than originally thought. Spinosaurus had a long neck, strong clawed forearms, powerful jaws and the dense bones of a penguin. It propelled itself in water with flat feet that were probably webbed, according to a study released Thursday and published in the journal Science. The beast sported a spiny sail on its back that was 7 feet tall when it lived 95 million years ago. Read more http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2024518158_swimmingdinoxml.html
