Phys.org has a story about a new species of spinosaurus. Spinosaurus mirabilis was found in Niger at a remote locale in the central Sahara by a team of 20 researchers led by Paul Sereno, Ph.D., Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago. The animal is described in the paper “Scimitar-crested Spinosaurus species from the Sahara caps stepwise spinosaurid radiation” which was published in the journal Science. In November 2019, the team found a scimitar-shaped crest and some jaw fragments on the desert surface. It was only later on a return trip in 2022 when they found two more crests that they realizes what it was.

Previously, spinosaurid bones and teeth had only been found principally in coastal deposits not far from the shoreline, leading some experts to hypothesize recently that these fish-eating theropods may have been fully aquatic, pursuing prey underwater.

However, the new fossil area in Niger documents animals that were living inland, some 500–1,000 km from the nearest marine shoreline. Their proximity to intact partial skeletons of long-necked dinosaurs, all buried in river sediments, suggest they lived in a forested inland habitat dissected by rivers.

“I envision this dinosaur as a kind of ‘hell heron’ that had no problem wading on its sturdy legs into two meters of water but probably spent most of its time stalking shallower traps for the many large fish of the day,” Sereno said.