Brazilian Spinosaur: more info

[bh480@scn.org]

From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org

Brazilian Spinosaur: more info

Back on the first of November, there was correspondence 
about a model of the head of a new spinosaur from Brazil, 
posted at:  
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0011/02/html/snapshot1.html

I came across a wire story that fills in some more details:

Brazil's fossil hunters on the trail of fish-eating 
dinosaur.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 31 (Agence France Presse):
Paleontologists in Brazil said Tuesday they are on the 
trail of a creature which they believe may be a new 
species within the family of fish-eating dinosaurs known 
as spinosaurs. 
Spinosaurs lived in North Africa about 80 million years 
ago. Researchers at the National Museum in Rio unveiled a 
full-scale reconstruction of the crocodile-like head of an 
animal they believe may be a previously unknown member of 
that family which lived in Brazil around that time. 
The reconstruction was based on a dinosaur skull found in 
the Sao Marcos Bay area, in the northeastern state of 
Maranhao, and teeth and a jaw fragment also found in 
Brazil, explained Sergio Azevedo, a paleontologist at the 
museum. 
The fossil experts here were also able to draw on what 
researchers elsewhere have found out about spinosaurs. 
The spinosaur had a large 'sail' on its back, and with its 
long, crocodile-like head could cruise the shallows of 
lakes for fish, balanced on its two feet. But it would not 
venture further into the depths as it could not swim. 
Azevedo said the animal they are looking for could have 
been one of the biggest carnivorous dinosaurs to have 
walked the earth, measuring about 13 meters (43 feet) long 
and 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) high. It weighed about three 
tonnes. 
The expedition to gather more fossil evidence on Brazil's 
own spinosaurs will begin in January of next year, Azevedo 
said. The 1.5 million dollars needed to fund the 
expedition to northeast Brazil will be raised from the 
private sector.