Newly discovered ‘hell heron’ adds evidence in longstanding dinosaur debate

By Lily Hautau, CNN

(CNN) — A fossilized skull and jawbones found in Niger belonged to a creature that had a large, bony crest atop its head and lived some 95 million years ago. Named Spinosaurus mirabilis, it is the first species of Spinosaurus to be identified in more than a century.

The findings, which published February 19 in the journal Science, suggest that the prehistoric creature is a close relative of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, a giant fish-eating dinosaur with a sail across its back, first described in 1915 by German paleontologist Ernst Stromer von Reichenbach.

This discovery may answer a long-debated question among scientists about Spinosaurus species: Were they marine pursuit predators — animals that dove and swam after prey — or were they more like herons, wading at the shoreline and strategically striking fish in shallow water?

Paul Sereno, lead author of the study and professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago, said the new research points to Spinosaurus being what he calls a “hell heron” — a semiaquatic shoreline hunter with physical similarities to a wading bird, but at a terrifying scale.

According to the newly identified fossils, the creature likely had a long, narrow snout for snaring fish, a neck that could drive the head down in a stabbing motion and legs long enough to hunt in shallow water.

When researchers compared head, neck and hind-limb proportions of the fossilized bones to an adult blue heron, the similarities suggested that Spinosaurus was adapted for stalking and striking along open shorelines and river edges.

But the “smoking gun,” Sereno said, was that the fossils were found very far inland, suggesting that the creature lived and hunted along river systems and other shallow waterways, rather than the sea. Finding a giant, marine-adapted predator in the middle of the continent, he said, would be as unlikely as “finding a blue whale in Chicago.”

A unique headpiece

Like Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, Spinosaurus mirabilis had a bony crest on its head, but in S. mirabilis, the structure was more pronounced and dramatic compared to its relatives.

It’s a “flamboyant crest of bone jutting off of its head, like the quiff hairstyle of Elvis,” Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh, said in an email. He was not involved in the study.

It’s “a very bad weapon,” Sereno said of the creature’s head crest. It’s awkwardly positioned, somewhat fragile and asymmetrical — all traits that point away from its use in combat and toward display and signaling, maybe even sexual signaling, he added.

The difference in the head crests of the newly identified fossils and other Spinosaurus remains helped researchers confirm that it was a distinct species within the Spinosaurus genus.

Compared to Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, Spinosaurus mirabilis also had a lower-set jaw and interlocking teeth — a configuration Sereno said is well-suited for gripping slippery fish.

A ‘renaissance’ in giant predatory dinosaur research

The study also sheds light on the evolution of Spinosaurus, which may have unfolded in three phases. During the Jurassic, its fish-snaring skull emerged; in the Early Cretaceous, Spinosaurus became a dominant predator around the ancient Tethys Sea; and just before the Late Cretaceous, as the Atlantic Ocean opened, Spinosaurus reached its largest sizes and became a shallow-water ambush specialist in North Africa and South America.

“It has long been a mysterious dinosaur, but with each new fossil find the real Spinosaurus is slowly coming into focus,” Brusatte said.

Sereno emphasized how modern tools accelerated the research. The team took hundreds of photos and created 3D models of S. mirabilis, allowing researchers to digitally manipulate the crest and jaw fragments, and begin reconstructing the skull.

The new fossil find represents a “renaissance” in giant predatory dinosaur research, Matteo Fabbri, assistant professor at John Hopkins University School of Medicine’s Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, said via email. Fabbri was not involved in the research.

But he also noted that it is hard to establish a new species from fossil fragments. The the fragmentary nature of the fossils does not provide “much to work with, leaving many doubts regarding the actual anatomy of the animal,” he said.

A replica of the Spinosaurus skull is on display at Chicago’s Children’s Museum, providing kids with an opportunity to see it.

For Sereno, the fossils are not just a major scientific find, but an invitation for the next generation to engage with the wonder of discovery.

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