Suchomimus

Credit: Fred Wierum.

*Suchomimus*, referred to as "Claws" by Paul Sereno, is a genus of large spinosaurid dinosaur that lived during in Africa during the Early Cretaceous.

## Description

*Suchomimus* was rather a larger Spinosaurid evolved at North Africa. The name means 'crocodile mimic' in latin; and the continuation; *tenerensis*, points to the locality of its first remains, the Ténéré Desert. The *Suchomimus* anatomy have had forelimbs that were very powerfully built, bearing a giant claw on each thumb. Along the midline of the animal's back ran a low dorsal sail, built from the long neural spines of its vertebrae, likely formed a sail-like structure; albeit much more smaller than *Spinosaurus*.

*Suchomimus* estimated between 9.5 to 11 metres (31 to 36 feet) long and weighed between 3 to 5.5 tonnes, although the holotype specimen may not even have been fully grown.

## Paleoecology

*Suchomimus* lived in Niger during the Early Cretaceous. *Suchomimus* likely stalked river and lake sides for passing animals; such as massive fish, crocodylimorphs and plesiosaurs. Since the skull resembles that of a crocodile so much, it is possible that *Suchomimus* may have also swam in bodies of water frequently; albeit this spinosaurid bare no adaptations for water locomotion.

*Suchomimus* lived in what is now Niger, during the Early Cretaceous, 112 million years ago. The formation have been interpreted as an inland habitat of extensive freshwater floodplains and fast-moving rivers, with a tropical climate that likely experienced seasonal dry periods, similar to modern Delta's. This habitat has consisted a wide variety of species; such dinosaurs, pterosaurs, turtles, fish, sharks, and freshwater bivalves. Crocodylomorph species were abundant; large species existed; such as *Sarcosuchus imperator*, as well as small crocodylimorphs like *Anatosuchus*and *Araripesuchus*, as well as *Stolokrosuchus lapparenti**.*

Suchomimus coexisted and likely compete with other large theropods like the abelisaurid *Kryptops palaios*, the carcharodontosaurid *Eocarcharia dinops*, and an unknown noasaurid.

Herbivorous dinosaurs of the region included iguanodontians like *Ouranosaurus*, *Elrhazosaurus, Lurdusaurus,* and two sauropods: *Nigersaurus taqueti**,* and an unnamed titanosaur. The local flora probably consisted mainly of ferns, horsetails, and angiosperms.

## Paleobiology

*Suchomimus* is a member of the Spinosauridae; likely belonged to the basal subgroup dubbed as Baryonchinae; there is direct evidence for this subgroups dietary practices from the representative theropod *Baryonyx*, whose holotype contains remains of prehistoric fish and subadult *Iguanodon*. Spinosaurids likely had a noticeable bite force. *Suchomimus* may have been comparable to alligators, demonstrating suggested capability for terrestrial prey capture. Ibrahim et al. (2022) find that *Suchomimus* secondarily lost semiaquatic behaviour based on bone histology, a feature that is hypothesized to be ancestral for spinosaurids and even occurs within the earliest baryonychines. This is strange because it's sister taxon, *Baryonyx*, was likely a diver. Another study conducted by Myhrvold and Sereno et al. analyzes the faulty sample by Nizar et al. and explains why bone compactness and the pFDA for determining lifestyle for an entire clade may be prone to error. Published in 2023; spinosaurid subfamilies, especially representatives of Baryonychinae, suggests that the brain structure and endocast shows no marked differences from any other common theropod; this may suggest similar behavior, especially between it and megalosaurids.

## Gallery

### Reconstructions

**Credit: Path of Titans.**Chimeric spinosaurine and *Suchomimus*.
## References

1. ↑ https://qilong.wordpress.com/2015/10/20/pale-spinos-sigilmassasaurus/
2. ↑ https://www.nigerheritage.org/heritage#dinosaurs
3. ↑ https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/2041-210X.12226
4. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232687833\_My\_theropod\_is\_bigger\_than\_yoursor\_not\_Estimating\_body\_size\_from\_skull\_length\_in\_theropods
5. ↑ https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634%282007%2927%5B108%3AMTIBTY%5D2.0.CO%3B2
6. ↑ https://www.app.pan.pl/article/item/app53-015.html
7. ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232682629\_Basal\_Abelisaurid\_and\_Carcharodontosaurid\_Theropods\_from\_the\_Lower\_Cretaceous\_Elrhaz\_Formation\_of\_Niger
8. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2077925/
9. ↑ https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001Sci...294.1516S/abstract
10. ↑ https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/how-did-baryonyx-change-what-we-knew-about-spinosaurs.html
11. ↑ https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=HGV7AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=baryonyx+iguanodon&source=bl&ots=Wu1MT\_qThb&sig=ACfU3U2\_m-yVyncA5-etjgTGvwBFzvLcGQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiL8I682KzpAhWYQkEAHRbZDs4Q6AEwGXoECAUQAQ#v=onepage&q=baryonyx%20iguanodon&f=false
12. ↑ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0065295
14. ↑ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04528-0
15. ↑ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/spinosaurus-had-penguin-like-bones-a-sign-of-hunting-underwater
16. ↑ https://phys.org/news/2022-03-dense-bones-spinosaurus-underwater.html
17. ↑ https://www.sciencenews.org/article/spinosaurus-bones-dinosaur-swim-paleontology
18. ↑ https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.05.04.539484v1.full.pdf
19. ↑ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36781174/
20. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4qw545E6C0
21. ↑ https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joa.13837
22. ↑ https://blog.everythingdinosaur.com/blog/\_archives/2023/02/14/spinosaurs-modified-skulls-but-conservative-brains.html
23. ↑ https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/979404