What happened to the original Spinosaurus fossils?

They were destroyed in a 1944 bombing raid

What did a 2020 study suggest about its tail?

It was paddle-like for swimming

Spinosaurus Trivia: 10 Questions With Answers

The first Spinosaurus fossils were destroyed when a Munich museum was bombed in 1944, and spinosaurus trivia picks up the story from there. Follow Ernst Stromer's finds in Egypt, new discoveries in Morocco and the debate over whether this sail-backed giant swam like a crocodile.

Start Spinosaurus Trivia

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Stromer
Who first described Spinosaurus in 1915?
Lost
What happened to the original Spinosaurus fossils?
Sail
What made Spinosaurus look unusual?
Length
How long was Spinosaurus?
Fish
What did Spinosaurus mainly eat?
Tail
What did a 2020 study suggest about its tail?
Period
When did Spinosaurus live?
Movie
Which film showed Spinosaurus defeating a T. rex?
Region
Where did Spinosaurus live?
Debate
What do scientists still debate about Spinosaurus?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Who first described Spinosaurus in 1915?
Answer: Ernst Stromer
He found it in Egypt.
Q2: What happened to the original Spinosaurus fossils?
Answer: They were destroyed in a 1944 bombing raid
Only drawings and notes survived.
Q3: What made Spinosaurus look unusual?
Answer: A tall sail on its back
Spines over 1.5 meters supported it.
Q4: How long was Spinosaurus?
Answer: About 14 to 15 meters
It may be the longest predatory dinosaur.
Q5: What did Spinosaurus mainly eat?
Answer: Fish
Its snout resembled a crocodile's.
Q6: What did a 2020 study suggest about its tail?
Answer: It was paddle-like for swimming
Morocco's Kem Kem beds yielded it.
Q7: When did Spinosaurus live?
Answer: Mid-Cretaceous
About 99 to 93 million years ago.
Q8: Which film showed Spinosaurus defeating a T. rex?
Answer: Jurassic Park III
It was released in 2001.
Q9: Where did Spinosaurus live?
Answer: North Africa
Rivers then crossed the Sahara.
Q10: What do scientists still debate about Spinosaurus?
Answer: How much it swam versus waded
New fossils keep adding clues.

Spinosaurus Trivia – The Sail-Backed River Giant

Spinosaurus was a huge predatory dinosaur that lived in North Africa about 99 to 93 million years ago. With a length of around 14 to 15 meters, it may have been even longer than Tyrannosaurus rex, and it carried a tall sail on its back.

German paleontologist Ernst Stromer described Spinosaurus from fossils found in Egypt, but they were destroyed when Allied bombs hit a Munich museum in 1944. For decades, scientists relied on his drawings until new fossils emerged from Morocco.

Spinosaurus had a long, crocodile-like snout and cone-shaped teeth for catching fish. A 2020 study of its tail suggested it swam, though some scientists argue it waded like a heron. It became famous after Jurassic Park III.

What This Quiz Teaches

Dinosaur fans and students will enjoy these questions.

Who discovered it
What happened to the fossils
How big it was
What it ate
How it may have swum

Did You Know?

Spinosaurus had dense bones.
Its nostrils were set far back.
Baryonyx was a relative from England.
Rivers once flowed through the Sahara.
Sawfish lived alongside it.