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Okay, even I have to admit that this next dinosaur is impressive. The Spinosaurus is perhaps the largest of carnivores. Of course, I'll never get close enough to one to see for myself. But that's why I have you.

Spinosaurus is a genus of spinosaurid dinosaur in the Jurassic World Evolution series. Originating in Late Cretaceous Africa, Spinosaurus is one of the largest species of theropod dinosaurs.

In Evolution, Spinosaurus is first encountered during Campaign Mode as a wild animal on Isla Sorna. Spinosaurus fossils can then be excavated from the Bahariya Formation and Chenini Formation. In the Secrets of Dr. Wu expansion pack, Spinosaurus can be fused with Velociraptor to create the Spinoraptor hybrid.

History

After the San Diego Incident in 1997,[1] which brought the existence of dinosaurs on Isla Sorna to public knowledge, the failing InGen, which had all but collapsed in the wake of the disaster, was purchased by Masrani Global.[2] Only one hundred days after the deal was finalized, and in violation of the Gene Guard Act, which banned access to Isla Sorna and the cloning of prehistoric species, an InGen team incubated several new species of dinosaur, including Ankylosaurus, Ceratosaurus, Corythosaurus, and most notably, Spinosaurus.[2] Bred covertly in 1999 under "Amalgam Testing", the Spinosaurus was experimented on over a period of nine months before being abandoned on the island.[2][3]

648350 screenshots 20180819173219 1

A Spinosaurus faces off against an Allosaurus.

In 2001, the only Spinosaurus known to have been cloned by InGen was encountered on numerous occasions by the survivors of a plane crash on Isla Sorna and was responsible for the deaths of numerous individuals, as well as a Tyrannosaurus which had entered its territory.[4] Reports of the Spinosaurus was later reported to the authorities by the survivors, but it was covered up by "bribed officials" and went undisclosed until 2015.[2]

The introduction of the Spinosaurus, and to a lesser extent the other illegal species, had a profound impact on the ecosystem of Isla Sorna, resulting in a considerable population drop which mystified the scientific community until 2015. In 2004, the surviving dinosaurs on Sorna were transported to Jurassic World on Isla Nublar, it is confirmed that the Spinosaurus was not among them. [5] However, in the Jurassic Park III Chaos Theory, the Spinosaurus was killed by Velociraptors.

Characteristics

Jurassic World Evolution Screenshot 2018.07.02 - 00.53.30

A Spinosaurus.

Heavily built and fearsome with a broad snout bearing two head crests on each side and a large sail on its back, Spinosaurus is one of the largest, if not, the largest known theropod dinosaur and land carnivore to have ever existed, measuring at around 15 meters in length and up to four tons in weight. Native to North Africa, Spinosaurus lived around 95 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous period. Its name translates to "Spine Lizard", in reference to the distinctive long spines on its back vertebrae that form a sail, which researchers believe helped Spinosaurus to regulate its temperature as well as attract mates. It has an elongated snout, more like a Gharial's compared to other theropods. It is believed that they lived and hunted in water as well as on land.

The base genome of the Spinosaurus is primarily gray with distinctive patterns of red across the body, blue circular patterns across its impressive sail.

Gameplay

Evolution

Behaviour

A territorial carnivore, Spinosaurus is among the largest predators available to the Hammond Foundation. In comparison to carnivores such as Tyrannosaurus and the Indominus rex, Spinosaurus is more tolerant of its own kind, and can happily coexist with another member of its species. The species also tolerates up to thirteen other dinosaurs in its enclosure, of various species. Like other spinosaurids such as Baryonyx and Suchomimus, Spinosaurus have a wetland need, requiring enclosures containing at least 5,114mĀ² of water to avoid becoming stressed. In addition to the Carnivore and Live Bait feeders, Spinosaurus also feed from Fish Feeders.

Evolution 2

The Spinosaurus mechanics are very similar to that in the first game. However, after Update 7, the Spinosaurus uses its claws to stand and has a unqiue neck-snapping animation with the Tyrannosaurus as well as the other theropod dinosaurs. The neck-snapping animation might relate to the death of the Tyrannosaurus in Jurassic Park 3.

Available genomes

Fossil icon Dig site Quality Number available
Largetheropodicon
Bahariya Formation ā˜…
ā˜…ā˜…
ā˜…ā˜…ā˜…
ā˜…ā˜…ā˜…ā˜…
1
3
6
4
Chenini Formation ā˜…
ā˜…ā˜…
ā˜…ā˜…ā˜…
ā˜…ā˜…ā˜…ā˜…
1
3
6
4

Skins

Paleontology

Described as being potentially the largest as well as the longest theropod dinosaur ever discovered and recognizable by the large sail on its back, Spinosaurus remains have been found in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, and Niger. The first Spinosaurus remains were discovered in 1912 by Austrian fossil collector Richard Markgraf, when he uncovered a partial skeleton in the Bahariya Formation of western Egypt consisting of ribs, vertebrae and multiple spines that grew up to 1.65 meters long. Three years later, German paleontologist Ernst Stromer brought the remains to a museum in Much and confirmed Markgraf's find as a new genus. Unfortunately, these fossils were destroyed during a bombing raid in World War II. Other specimens have been recovered from other sites in North Africa including Morocco and Niger.

Jurassic World Evolution Screenshot 2018.09.16 - 19.11.42

A Spinosaurus about to eat a guest.

For decades, Spinosaurus was thought to have had an overall head design similar to dinosaurs such as Megalosaurus. However, in the 1990s, new discoveries emerged revealing a crocodile-like snout, as well as bones indicating that Spinosaurus was among the largest theropods ever found. From the 1990s to the early 2010s, Spinosaurus was depicted as a primarily terrestrial carnivore with a body plan similar to that of other theropods. However, discoveries in 2014 and 2020 have revealed the animal had relatively short hind-limbs, and a long tail with neural spines, forming a flexible fin or paddle-like structure thought to be for swimming.[6] A 2021 study however found that the degree of aquatic behavior attributed to Spinosaurus is not consistent, and the theropod could be a shoreline generalist.[7] Another 2022 research has published in agreement with the 2021 research, concluding that Spinosaurus was not adept at swimming and there are several Spinosaurus fossil recoveries throughout inner Africa, away from any significant body of water; even at early to mid cretaceous.[8] The previous researchs interpretation for Spinosaurus unlikeliness to dive is also further supported by additional publications.[9]

The sail of Spinosaurus has also been a point of discussion, like that of Ouranosaurus, with some claiming it is a large sail for display or thermoregulation like Dimetrodon, others arguing it is a fat-filled hump like that of a camel for dry periods, while some believe it acted like a dorsal fin to help in swimming. The only species of Spinosaurus discovered was S. aegyptiacus. However, a potential second species was uncovered in Morocco in 1996, called S. moroccanus.

Paleoecology

Spinosaurus lived in what is now northern Africa, preferring a warm, humid climate, and tended to live near swamp flats and marshes in coastal wetland regions covered with mangrove forests. It lived alongside similar large predatory theropods such as Carcharodontosaurus and Bahariasaurus, smaller theropods such as Rugops and Deltadromeus, the ornithopod, Ouranosaurus, the titanosaur sauropods Paralititan and Aegyptosaurus, large crocodylomorphs,Onchopristis, pterosaurs, as well as plesiosaurs.

Behind the scenes

The design of the Spinosaurus in Evolution is based on its appearance in 2001's Jurassic Park III. The audio files used in the film were provided by Universal Pictures, in order to help the development team create the most authentic representation of the dinosaur.[10] It received a Species Profile on May 11, 2018.[11]

At launch, the Spinosaurus was notably smaller than the Tyrannosaurus, but the latter was eventually slightly downsized and the former's size was in turn increased in Update 1.4.[12] The Jungle skin was added to the game with Update 1.6.1 on December 19th, 2018 as a reward for community hitting donation reward for the 24h Frontier Charity Stream.[13]

Gallery

References

  1. ā†‘ Spielberg, Steven. (Director). (1997). The Lost World: Jurassic Park [Film]. Universal Pictures.
  2. ā†‘ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 What Killed the Gene Guard Act?. (February 23, 2018). Dinosaur Protection Group. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  3. ā†‘ Masrani Backdoor. (2015). Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  4. ā†‘ Johnston, Joe. (Director). (2001). Jurassic Park III [Film]. Universal Pictures.
  5. ā†‘ Lueras, L., Kreamer, S., Spielberg, S., Trevorrow, C., Marshall, F. (Executive Producers). (2020ā€“present). Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous [TV series]. Universal Pictures; DreamWorks Animation Television.
  6. ā†‘ Greshko, Michael. (April 29, 2020). Bizarre Spinosaurus makes history as first known swimming dinosaur. National Geographic. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  7. ā†‘ Hone, Dave. (January 26, 2021). The evidence for Spinosaurus being a specialist aquatic predator and good swimmer is weak. Dave Hone's Archosaur Musings. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  8. ā†‘ https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.25.493395v1
  9. ā†‘ https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.04.539484v1.full.pdf
  10. ā†‘ Krupa, Daniel (May 16, 2018). HOW JURASSIC WORLD EVOLUTION MADE ITS T.REX - IGN FIRST IGN. Retrieved June 14, 2018
  11. ā†‘ Frontier Developments. (May 11, 2018). Species Profile - Spinosaurus [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  12. ā†‘ Marit, Bo. [Bo_Frontier]. (August 16, 2018). Important News about Dinosaur Sizes [Online forum post]. Reddit. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  13. ā†‘ Steggall, Mark. [Steggs]. (December 13, 2018). Update 1.6.1 and Cretaceous Dinosaur Pack is live for PS4! [Online forum post]. Frontier Forums. Retrieved April 9, 2021.

External links

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