Earlier this year, paleontologists proved Jurassic Park wrong yet again by discovering that the superpredator Spinosaurus was the first water-dwelling dinosaur. Now some of the same team has found further evidence, with a huge deposit of teeth recovered from an ancient riverbed, far outnumbering land dinosaurs.

Spinosaurus is an absolute beast of a predator, estimated to have been up to 18 m (59 ft) long and weighing over 20 tons. Dwarfing even the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, it had a long, pointed snout full of dagger-sharp teeth and a characteristic sail on its back.

But back in April this year, a new discovery indicated that it wasn’t the land-shaking, plane-trashing monster it’s made out to be in movies like Jurassic Park 3. Fossil remains of its tail were found for the first time, revealing a paddle shape perfect for propelling the dinosaur through the water after prey.

In total, Spino teeth accounted for 48 percent of the dental remains found, with the second most belonging to an extinct species of giant sawfish. Importantly, land-dwelling dinosaurs only account for less than one percent of the remains at one site and 5.6 percent at another.

https://newatlas.com/science/teeth-fossils-spinosaurus-swimming-dinosaur/

PermeateFree said:

Earlier this year, paleontologists proved Jurassic Park wrong yet again by discovering that the superpredator Spinosaurus was the first water-dwelling dinosaur. Now some of the same team has found further evidence, with a huge deposit of teeth recovered from an ancient riverbed, far outnumbering land dinosaurs.

Spinosaurus is an absolute beast of a predator, estimated to have been up to 18 m (59 ft) long and weighing over 20 tons. Dwarfing even the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, it had a long, pointed snout full of dagger-sharp teeth and a characteristic sail on its back.

But back in April this year, a new discovery indicated that it wasn’t the land-shaking, plane-trashing monster it’s made out to be in movies like Jurassic Park 3. Fossil remains of its tail were found for the first time, revealing a paddle shape perfect for propelling the dinosaur through the water after prey.

In total, Spino teeth accounted for 48 percent of the dental remains found, with the second most belonging to an extinct species of giant sawfish. Importantly, land-dwelling dinosaurs only account for less than one percent of the remains at one site and 5.6 percent at another.

https://newatlas.com/science/teeth-fossils-spinosaurus-swimming-dinosaur/

The illustration in OP as follows:

An artist’s representation of the Spinosaurus, taking into account the newly discovered shape of its tail

Until proved wrong, I’m still going to take T. rex as a water-dwelling dinosaur.

OK, so it doesn’t have a paddle-shaped tail like spinosaurus, but it does have a similar dentition.

mollwollfumble said:

Until proved wrong, I’m still going to take T. rex as a water-dwelling dinosaur.

OK, so it doesn’t have a paddle-shaped tail like spinosaurus, but it does have a similar dentition.

Huh?

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

Until proved wrong, I’m still going to take T. rex as a water-dwelling dinosaur.

OK, so it doesn’t have a paddle-shaped tail like spinosaurus, but it does have a similar dentition.

Huh?

My idea is that T. rex has a number of features that suggest it spent most of its time in water, including very high-set eyes like a crocodile to allow it to see above the water surface. And including a very rapid growth rate (the biggest T. rex skeletons are still juveniles, they died young) that would only be possible if the main part of their diet was fish. And dentition intermediate between that of a crocodile and an orca.

I think they crept up to dinosaur prey that were drinking on the banks of rivers, and sprinted at very high speed out of the water after them.

mollwollfumble said:

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

Until proved wrong, I’m still going to take T. rex as a water-dwelling dinosaur.

OK, so it doesn’t have a paddle-shaped tail like spinosaurus, but it does have a similar dentition.

Huh?

My idea is that T. rex has a number of features that suggest it spent most of its time in water, including very high-set eyes like a crocodile to allow it to see above the water surface. And including a very rapid growth rate (the biggest T. rex skeletons are still juveniles, they died young) that would only be possible if the main part of their diet was fish. And dentition intermediate between that of a crocodile and an orca.

I think they crept up to dinosaur prey that were drinking on the banks of rivers, and sprinted at very high speed out of the water after them.

Well, any fantasy will do until evidence is found.

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

roughbarked said:

Huh?

My idea is that T. rex has a number of features that suggest it spent most of its time in water, including very high-set eyes like a crocodile to allow it to see above the water surface. And including a very rapid growth rate (the biggest T. rex skeletons are still juveniles, they died young) that would only be possible if the main part of their diet was fish. And dentition intermediate between that of a crocodile and an orca.

I think they crept up to dinosaur prey that were drinking on the banks of rivers, and sprinted at very high speed out of the water after them.

Well, any fantasy will do until evidence is found.

It beats just going boo.

PermeateFree said:

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

My idea is that T. rex has a number of features that suggest it spent most of its time in water, including very high-set eyes like a crocodile to allow it to see above the water surface. And including a very rapid growth rate (the biggest T. rex skeletons are still juveniles, they died young) that would only be possible if the main part of their diet was fish. And dentition intermediate between that of a crocodile and an orca.

I think they crept up to dinosaur prey that were drinking on the banks of rivers, and sprinted at very high speed out of the water after them.

Well, any fantasy will do until evidence is found.

It beats just going boo.

To test hypothesis would have to find aquatic animals in the stomach contents of T. rex. Difficult because fish have small bones that rapidly disintegrate.

mollwollfumble said:

roughbarked said:

mollwollfumble said:

Until proved wrong, I’m still going to take T. rex as a water-dwelling dinosaur.

OK, so it doesn’t have a paddle-shaped tail like spinosaurus, but it does have a similar dentition.

Huh?

My idea is that T. rex has a number of features that suggest it spent most of its time in water, including very high-set eyes like a crocodile to allow it to see above the water surface. And including a very rapid growth rate (the biggest T. rex skeletons are still juveniles, they died young) that would only be possible if the main part of their diet was fish. And dentition intermediate between that of a crocodile and an orca.

I think they crept up to dinosaur prey that were drinking on the banks of rivers, and sprinted at very high speed out of the water after them.

I may need to rethink that a bit.

On TV today they said that the main component of a saltwater crocodile’s diet is crabs, not fish.

T. rex feeding on crabs stretches the imagination too far.