Spinosaurus: My Analysis

The collective understands your concern, and would like to comfort you by saying "It's all going to be ok." Sadly, the collective does not agree that to comfort you would be the correct course of action. So, we continue to observe.

He's a niceguy, you don't have to rex-communicate him.

plz no lock.

Anyway, after looking through pretty much everything I could find on the internet about the new Spinosaurus (especially the study that Carnosaur posted) I must say that this new version could actually be almost correct, I still do not agree with the regular quadrupedal stance and the extreme short-ness of it's legs, but otherwise it seems more and more realistic to me.

I agree with some things stated here.

I believe that Spinosaurus was mainly a fish hunter, but as any opportunistic predator, it wouldn't mind other prey too if it had the chance to get it!

I however see the possibility of a quadrupedal Spinosaurus pretty plausible. You have to remember the new reconstruction isn't based off of fantasy, but is supported with the available fossil remains (that aren't many either way).

Those remains point out at pretty short legs for a theropod standard, suggesting that Spinosaurus was, in fact, a quadruped, its short legs not being able to fully support all that meat.

Still, I do not exclude the stance of an occasional bipedal locomotion.

Finally, I agree with a mix of your points combined to a new reconstruction, that make Spinosaurus go higher in my list of favorite dinosaurs.

All this new statemens made with the recent, new recostruction point towards a far more adaptable predator that we could imagine, making Spinosaurus very special in my eyes.

^ I don't believe that Spino wasn't fully a quadruped (let me go edit that). It probably walked on all fours in shallow water, sandy shores, and other soft places where there was no possibility of damaging its claws. On dry, hard land, like a forest, it would probably walk bipedally, to not risk claw damage.

(Also, did you like my addition of the PK Spino? :3)

There is no reason a Spinosaurus could have damaged its claws walking on all 4s. The wirst articulation allowed it to walk on its knuckles, without the claws even touching the ground. This is what I mean: 

As you can see, its left hand is touching the ground by the knockles, that could in some way sustain the weight of the first half of Spinosaurus' body.

Also thank you for including the PK Spino! :)

You mean knuckle walking like a gorilla?

Yes, but having the wrist rotation like any theropod, with the hand facing each other, rather than facing the body like in a Gorilla.

"The Spinosaurus, as a reptile, probably didn't have the right muscles or joints to allow such movement. Now, we know about its long tail, used for swimming, could have a lot of weight in it, to support the creature. Hwever, Spino would probably walk quadrupedally when it had the chance, such as in shallow water, sandy shores, and other soft places, to avoid claw damage."

So basically this is the only thing I don't agree with (which is okay).

There is no reason its hands structure wouldn't allow such a motion capability, as that degree of finger rotation is supported in almost every theropod's anatomy. This also supplies for strong muscles in the arms, that would also have been convenient for hunt or in case of defence.

So I'm not stating Spinosaurus was FULLY quadrupedal. The new evidences just suggest it walked like that most of its time, but it could still require on bipedal walking for short amounts of time.

^Yes. I don't realyl believe Spino spent too much time on all fours, but that doesn't say it was 100% bipedal. Still, I don't think leg or arm fossils were found, and I heard the Nat Geo specimen is fake.

i think the only way to know is to wait and see.