Marlin

Marlin is a water-attributed Baryonyx and is a member of the D-Team

## Character design

### Personality:

Marlin doesn't interact with some of the other dinosaurs beside members of his own species. He usually keeps to himself sometimes and would rather be left alone since he says that he'd rather not include himself into some of the shenanigans some of the dinosaurs and other characters get into, but only except for if he is summoned to, that is. He is the mate of Sushi and one of the younger cousins of Spiny.

## Anatomy

As a Baryonyx, Marlin is between 7.5 and 10 m (25 and 33 ft) long, 2.5 m (8.2 ft) in hip height, and to have weighed between 1.2 and 1.9 t (1.3 and 2.1 short tons; 1.2 and 1.9 long tons).

### Skull:

Marlin's skull is around 91–95 centimetres (36–37 inches) long, based on comparison with that of the related genus *Suchomimus* (which was 20% larger). It is elongated, and the front 17 cm (6.7 in) of the premaxillae formed a long, narrow, and low snout (rostrum) with a smoothly rounded upper surface. The external nares (bony nostrils) are long, low, and placed far back from the snout tip. The front 13 cm (5.1 in) of the snout expanded into a spatulate (spoon-like), "terminal rosette", a shape similar to the rostrum of the modern gharial. The front 7 cm (2.8 in) of the lower margin of the premaxillae is downturned (or hooked), whereas that of the front portion of the maxillae was upturned. This morphology results in a sigmoid or S shaped margin of the lower upper tooth row, in which the teeth from the front of the maxilla were projecting forward. The snout is particularly narrow directly behind the rosette; this area receives the large teeth of the mandible. marlin's maxilla and premaxilla fit together in a complex articulation, and the resulting gap between the upper and lower jaw is known as the subrostral notch. A downturned premaxilla and a sigmoid lower margin of the upper tooth row is also present in distantly related theropods such as *Dilophosaurus*. The snout had extensive foramina (openings), which would have been exits for blood vessels and nerves, and the maxilla appears to have housed sinuses.

Marlin has a rudimentary secondary palate, similar to crocodiles but unlike most theropod dinosaurs. A rugose (roughly wrinkled) surface suggests the presence of a horny pad in the roof of the mouth. The nasal bones were fused, which distinguished marlin from other spinosaurids, and a sagittal crest is present above the eyes, on the upper mid-line of the nasals. This crest is triangular, narrow, and sharp in its front part, and is distinct from those of other spinosaurids in ending hind wards in a cross-shaped process. The lacrimal bone in front of the eye forms a horn core similar to those seen, for example, in *Allosaurus*, and is distinct from other spinosaurids in being solid and almost triangular. The occiput is narrow, with the paroccipital processes pointing outwards horizontally, and the basipterygoid processes are lengthened, descending far below the basioccipital (the lowermost bone of the occiput). marlin's front 14 cm (5.5 in) of his dentary in the mandible sloped upwards towards the curve of the snout. The dentary is very long and shallow, with a prominent Meckelian groove on the inner side. The mandibular symphysis, where the two halves of the lower jaw connect at the front, is particularly short. The rest of the lower jaw is fragile; the hind third is much thinner than the front, with a blade-like appearance. The front part of the dentary curves outwards to accommodate the large front teeth, and this area forms the mandibular part of the rosette. The dentary–like the snout—had many foramina.

The roots are very long, and tapered towards their extremity. The carinae (sharp front and back edges) of the teeth are finely serrated with denticles on the front and back, and extended all along the crown. There are around six to eight denticles per mm (0.039 in), a much larger number than in large-bodied theropods like *Torvosaurus* and *Tyrannosaurus*. Some of the teeth are fluted, with six to eight ridges along the length of their inner sides and fine-grained enamel (outermost layer of teeth), while others bore no flutes; their presence is related to position or ontogeny (development during growth). The inner side of each tooth row has a bony wall. The number of teeth are large compared to most other theropods, with six to seven teeth in each premaxilla and thirty-two in each dentary. the difference between the number of teeth in the upper and lower jaws has been more pronounced than in other theropods. marlin's terminal rosette in his upper jaw has thirteen dental alveoli (tooth sockets), six on the left and seven on the right side, showing tooth count asymmetry. his first four upper teeth were large (with the second and third the largest), while the fourth and fifth progressively decrease in size. The diameter of the largest was twice that of the smallest. The first four alveoli of the dentary (corresponding to the tip of the upper jaw) are the largest, with the rest more regular in size. Small subtriangular interdental plates are present between the alveoli.

### Postcranial skeleton:

Initially thought to have lacked the sigmoid curve typical of theropods, Marlin's neck makes an S shape, though straighter than in other theropods. The cervical vertebrae of the neck tapers towards the head and became progressively longer front to back. Their zygapophyses (the processes that connected the vertebrae) are flat, and their epipophyses (processes to which neck muscles attached) are well developed. The axis (the second neck vertebra) is small relative to the size of the skull and had a well-developed hyposphene. The neural arches of the cervical vertebrae are not always sutured to the centra (the bodies of the vertebrae), and the neural spines there are low and thin. The cervical ribs are short, similar to those of crocodiles, and possibly overlapped each other somewhat. The centra of the dorsal vertebrae of the back were similar in size. Like in other theropods, marlin shows skeletal pneumaticity, reducing his weight through fenestrae (openings) in the neural arches and pleurocoels (hollow depressions) in the centra (primarily near the transverse processes). From front to back, the neural spines of the dorsal vertebrae change from short and stout to tall and broad. One isolated dorsal neural spine is moderately elongated and slender, showing marlin has a hump or ridge along the centre of his back (though incipiently developed compared to those of other spinosaurids). marlin is unique among spinosaurids in having a marked constriction from side to side in a vertebra that either belonged to the sacrum or front of the tail.

The coracoid tapered hind-wards when viewed in profile, and, uniquely among spinosaurids, connect with the scapula in a peg-and-notch articulation. The scapulae are robust and the bones of the forelimb were short in relation to the animal's size, but broad and sturdy. The humerus is short and stout, with its ends broadly expanded and flattened—the upper side for the deltopectoral crest and muscle attachment and the lower for articulation with the radius and ulna. The radius is short, stout and straight, and less than half the length of the humerus, while the ulna is a little longer. The ulna has a powerful olecranon and an expanded lower end. The hands had three fingers; the first finger bore a large claw measuring about 31 cm (12 in) along its curve. it is bilaterally symmetric, slightly compressed, smoothly rounded, and sharply pointed. A groove for the sheath ran along the length of the claw. The other claws of the hand are much smaller. The ilium (main hip bone) of the pelvis has a prominent supracetabular crest, an anterior process that is slender and vertically expanded, and a posterior process that was long and straight. The ilium also has a prominent brevis shelf and a deep grove that faced downwards. The acetabulum (the socket for the femur) was long from front to back. The ischium (lower and rearmost hip bone) had a well developed obturator process at the upper part. The margin of the pubic blade at the lower end is turned outward, and the pubic foot is not expanded. The femur lack a groove on the fibular condyle, and, uniquely among spinosaurids, the fibula has a very shallow fibular fossa (depression)

## Abilities

### Aqua Whip:

Marlin shoots a water whip from his mouth that picks up his opponent and throws them around, repeatedly crashing them into the ground! He shares this move with his mate, Sushi, and his older cousin, Spiny.