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This
is a frontal view of the Suchomimus mount at the
Children's Museum at Chicago's Navy Pier. Suchomimus was a strange
dinosaur, possessing a long, crocodile like skull, sharp teeth, a
humongous thumb claw, and a sail on its back. It was nearly 40 feet
long and likely ate large fish in the land that we now call Niger.
Here is a quote about Suchomimus from a November 1998 Associated
Press newspaper article:
"A
fish-eating monster with razon teeth, a long snout, and foot-long
curved claws has been identified as a fearsome new species of
dinosaur that dominated a part of Africa some 100 million years
ago."
"In
a study published in the journal Science, a University of Chicago
researcher said the previously unknown species was a 36-foot long
animal with the weaponsand the strength ot have intimidated even the
famed Tyrannosaurus rex, the king of the North American dinosaur
predators."
"'It
was an impressive-sized beast,' paleontologist Paul Sereno said of
the new species he has named Suchomimus tenerensis."
"'If
you were standing next to it, your eye level would be at its knee,'
the researcher said. 'This animal was easily the size of
Tyrannosaurus rex. And it was not fully grown.'"
"Suchomimus
apparently was a fish eater, said Sereno, but it coudl threaten
virtually anything around it."
"'With
its forearms and jaws, it woudl have been able to take down just
about anything,' Sereno said. 'It was the dominant predator of its
time."
"The
animal was generally shaped like the T. rex, with two large hind
legs, a powerful tail, forearms and a toothy head, Sereno
said."
"But
Suchomimus was a member of a group of animals called spinosaurids
that lived in the lands that became Africa, Europe, and South
America between 90 and 120 million years ago. At that time, T. rex
was just emerging in North America. Three other spinosaurids have
been found, but Suchomimus is unique, said Sereno."
"The
animal's most distinctive feature is its long, pointed jaw, armed
with about 100 teeth. The end of the jaw is tipped with an extra
chin-like projection, called a rosette, that actually contains the
largest teeth. The top and bottom teeth mesh together to securely
hook prey, a design common among fish eating animals."
"The
animal's thumbs were about 16 inches long and tipped with 12-inch
claws curved like a sicke. The two fingers on each hand had shorter,
curved claws."
"It
is not known how the newly discovered Suchomimus died, but it
apparently was swept into a river, rolled over and over, and then
buried by soil. When found in extreme desert, wind had eroded the
sands that had covered it for 100 million years."
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