Re: MNHN SAM 124

["Mickey Mortimer" <Mickey_Mortimer111@msn.com>]

Vladimír Socha wrote-

> Given the size of a skull (2.2 m) how large (i.e. long
> and heavy, primarily) this Spinosaurus individual was? Is this the
> same for which an estimate of 56 feet (17.1 m) was introduced? Also,
> wasn't the JP3 Spino based on this fragmentary specimen? And if this
> a new species _Spinosaurus moroccanus_(Russell, 1996) then how large
> was the type of _Spinosaurus aegypti(a)cus_?

That measurement was originally someone else's (Jaime's?) before I reported
it a while ago, my new estimate based on comparison to Sereno et al.'s
(1998) generalized baryonychine skull is 2.0 m.  Using Suchomimus for
comparison, MNHN SAM 124 would have measured ~15.9 meters long and ~8-15
tons.  The holotype of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus was probably ~17.4 meters
based on dorsal central length, and ~12-19 tons.  It was also probably
immature, though the age of MNHN SAM 124 is unknown.  Spinosaurus moroccanus
is probably a junior synonym of S. aegyptiacus, at least until further
studies are done.  I have no idea which specimen (if any) the JP3
Spinosaurus was based on, though I think it's clear Spinosaurus was the
longest and heaviest theropod known.

Mickey Mortimer