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Spinosaurus mirabilis emerged from Sahara fossils as the largest Cretaceous river predator and the first new species of the genus in over a century
A team of paleontologists led by Professor Paul Sereno, from the University of Chicago, has just introduced to the world a creature that remained hidden for 95 million years under the sands of the Sahara desert.
Spinosaurus mirabilis is a new dinosaur species, 12 meters long, weighing several tons, and featuring a scimitar-shaped cranial crest that no scientist expected to find.
The formal description of the animal appeared in the pages of Science magazine between February 21 and 23, 2026.
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Furthermore, this is the first unequivocal new species of Spinosaurus in over a century.
The scimitar-shaped crest was colorful in life and curved skyward like a blade
The most striking feature of Spinosaurus mirabilis is the median crest on top of its skull.
Unlike any other known spinosaurid, this structure is scimitar-shaped — a curved blade like a saber.
According to the researchers, the crest was covered in keratin.
“Based on the surface texture of the crest and the internal vascular channels, we believe the crest was covered in keratin. This display feature was vividly colored in life, curving skyward like a blade-shaped beacon,” explained the study authors.
Therefore, this structure likely served to attract mates or intimidate rivals within the Cretaceous rainforest.
The 12-meter “hell heron” hunted fish in rivers a thousand kilometers from the coast
Professor Paul Sereno compared Spinosaurus mirabilis to a “hell heron” (hell heron).
Like modern herons, the animal waded in shallow waters using its robust legs.
However, instead of catching small fish, the predator captured large prey such as Mawsonia, a giant coelacanth.
“I envision this dinosaur as a kind of hell heron that had no problem wading with its robust legs in two meters of water, but probably spent most of its time hunting shallower traps for the many large fish of the time,” said Sereno.
The habitat of Spinosaurus mirabilis was an inland forest cut by rivers, located between 500 and 1,000 kilometers from the nearest marine coastline.
This discovery challenges the idea that all spinosaurids lived exclusively in coastal environments.
From the Sands of Niger to Science: How the Discovery Unfolded Over Decades
The story of Spinosaurus mirabilis begins long before 2026.
In the 1950s, French geologists searching for uranium found the first fossil bones in the Gadoufaoua region, Niger.
Decades later, in November 2019, Sereno’s team collected crest and jaw fragments from the desert surface.
Initially, no one recognized what those pieces represented.
“The crest was so large and unexpected that we initially didn’t recognize it for what it was when we extracted it from the desert surface,” the authors admitted.
Only in 2022, with a larger team and the discovery of two additional crests, did the novelty become clear.
- 2000, 2019, 2022: excavations in the localities of Iguidi and Jenguebi
- November 2019: first collection of crest and jaw
- 2022: expedition confirms new species with more fossils
- February 2026: publication in Science
The fossils came from the Farak Formation, which is more recent than the Elrhaz Formation, where Suchomimus originated.
This indicates that Spinosaurus mirabilis is one of the last surviving spinosaurids in the fossil record.
The size of a Tyrannosaurus rex, Spinosaurus mirabilis occupied a completely different niche
Spinosaurus mirabilis measured approximately 12 meters in length, a size comparable to that of a Tyrannosaurus rex.
However, while the T-rex was a terrestrial predator that hunted large herbivores, the mirabilis specialized in fish.
Its jaws had interlocking teeth, adapted for grasping slippery prey in the water.
In addition to its crested skull, the animal bore a large dorsal sail on its back, a structure common to other spinosaurs.
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus, found in Egypt and Morocco, inhabited coastal deposits, suggesting a more aquatic lifestyle.
The mirabilis, however, lived inland, challenging the view that spinosaurids relied exclusively on the sea.
Just like cosmic mysteries that challenge current knowledge, this discovery shows that paleontology still holds surprises capable of rewriting entire chapters of Earth’s life history.
What paleontologists still don’t know about Spinosaurus mirabilis
Despite the relevance of the discovery, there are important limitations.
The fossils include partial cranial and post-cranial bones from two localities, but there is no complete skeleton.
Thus, precise estimates of weight and exact body proportions beyond 12 meters remain uncertain.
The interpretation of the habitat as “forested with rivers” is based on the local stratigraphy of the first 60 centimeters of the Farak Formation.
The estimated distance of 500 to 1,000 kilometers from the coast is a projection, not a direct measurement.
Furthermore, the “hell heron” idea is speculative, based on leg morphology and dietary niche.
However, Sci.News highlights that the discovery significantly expands the record of spinosaurids for the central Sahara.
The Natural History Museum in London and Paul Sereno’s lab in Chicago published complementary analyses on the new species.
Even with the gaps, Spinosaurus mirabilis already rewrites what was known about the diversity and distribution of large Cretaceous predators.
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