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."

 

Front Skeleton | Upper Body | Skull Front | Skull Side | Skull Comparison | Claws | Spines | Rosette | Back Skeleton | Side Skeleton

See Steve Brusatte's web site Dino Land.

 

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