

The skeletal restoration of the enigmatic cenomanian north African theropod Spinosaurus agyptiacus. This is mainly based on the neotypic specimen (FSAC kk 11888), using the measurements reported at Ibrahim 2014 and it's supplementary materials. The individual is an old subadult, or age 17+-2 years, such ontogenic stage is indicated by long bone sections, like the femur and the tibia (analyzed in Ibrahim 2014), the quadrate (analyzed in Hendrickx 2016), and the vertebrae, as indicated in a recent SVP talk (2017). The skeleton of the neotypic specimen was found in a small location, and mainly excavated by a fossil hunter, who sold it to the university of Chicago. Dr Ibrahim and the National Geographic team came back to the site and found extra remains of the individual. It includes skull fragments including a well preserved quadrate , a very complete hindlimb, pelvic girdle, and foot, a manual phalanx, some neural spines, 3 dorsal centra, 3 sacral centra, and a few caudals and chevrons, making it the most complete spinosaurus specimen ever found.





Controversy about the proportions of the himdlimbs was alredy adressed by the authors; mr Scott Hartman and Mark Witton argued that the vertebrae of the 3D model was a 27.7% too large compared to the hindlimbs when checked against the measurements reported in the supplementary materials, which would shorten the torso and make the legs a 27,7% longer in proportion when corrected, but it turns out the vertebrae was reported in a smaller metric in the SM (rim to rim rather than total centrum length including the condyles). Here you have the response of the authors to Hartman's and Witton's concerns:

The bones of Spinosaurus were ilustrated following the figures in Ibrahim 2014, Stromer 1915, Dal Sasso 2005. Other taxa like Irritator was used to help restore the posterior portion of the cranium. Photographs taken by me of a cast of Ibrahim's et al Spinosaurus were used as well.

PD: IPHG 1912 skeletal will be uploaded soon.





References:

Ibrahim 2014. Semiaquatic adaptations in a giant predatory dinosaur Science 345, 1613 (2014);

Ibrahim 2014 (supplementary materials)

Evers SW, Rauhut OWM, Milner AC, McFeeters B, Allain R.

(

2015

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A reappraisal of the morphology and systematic position of the theropod dinosaur Sigilmassasaurusfrom the “middle” Cretaceous of Morocco

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PeerJ 3

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e1323

Hendrickx C, Mateus O, Buffetaut E (2016)

:

) and the Presence of

and a Second Spinosaurine Taxon in the Cenomanian of North Africa. PLoS ONE 11(1): e0144695. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0…

Stromer 1915. Results of Prof. E. Stromer's Research Expedition in the Deserts of Egypt. II. Vertebrate Remains from the Baharîje Beds (lowermost Cenomanian) 3. The Type of the Theropod Spinosaurus aegyptiacus nov. gen., nov. spec.*

Stromer, E. 1915. Ergebnisse der Forschungsreisen Prof. E. Stromers in den Wüsten Ägyptens. II. Wirbeltier-Reste der Baharîje-Stufe (unterstes Cenoman). 3. Das Original des Theropoden Spinosaurus aegyptiacus nov. gen., nov. spec. Abhandlungen der Königlichen Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Mathematisch-physikalische Klasse 28(3):1-32.

Cristiano Dal Sasso , Simone Maganuco , Eric Buffetaut & Marco A. Mendez (2005) New information on the skull of the enigmatic theropod Spinosaurus, with remarks on its size and affinities, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 25:4, 888-896

Smith 2006. NEW INFORMATION REGARDING THE HOLOTYPE OF SPINOSAURUS AEGYPTIACUS STROMER, 1915

National geographic site and exhibition.

Charig, Milner. 1986. Baryonyx, a remarkable new theropod dinosaur.

Sereno. 1998: A Long-Snouted Predatory Dinosaur from Africa and the Evolution of Spinosaurids. Science 282 (5392), 1298-1302. doi: 10.1126/science.282.5392.1298

Sues, H.-D., Frey, E., Martill, D. M. & Scott, D. M. 2002. Irritator challengeri, a spinosaurid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Lower Cretaceous of Brasil. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 22, 3, 535-547.

IMPORTANT: Proof that the remains of FSAC kk 11888 belong to a single individual: drive.google.com/open?id=0B-K0… The partial rostrum portrayed here (and to which the restoration is scaled to), MSNM v 4047, was referred to the species by Maganuco and Dal Sasso in 2005. Both authors were coauthors of the 2014 papers along with Nizar Ibrahim, Paul Sereno, and colleagues.The proportions and overall size of MSNM v 4047 and the skull of Spinosaurus were also adressed in the more recent publication, as you can see here: drive.google.com/open?id=0B-K0… Independent scaling made by me corrobated and replicated their results.UPDATE: Edited the forelimb proportions and the posture.Spinosaurus