A new species of fish-eating Spinosaurus has been unearthed in the Sahara, scientists announced, offering the clearest picture yet of how these ancient river predators lived and ultimately vanished.
The species, named Spinosaurus mirabilis, carries a towering scimitar-shaped bony crest above its skull, a feature that sets it apart from its closest relative, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. Paul C. Sereno of the University of Chicago led the research, which was published in the journal Science.
Researchers found the fossil in Jenguebi, a previously unstudied fossil site in the central Sahara. The bones lay buried in river sediments dating back roughly 95 million years, placing the creature in an inland river environment.
Two long-necked dinosaurs were recovered from the same site, buried nearby in the same deposits.
Fish-eating Spinosaurus stand out in the Sahara
That inland location proved significant. Scientists had long argued over whether Spinosaurus hunted along ocean coastlines or pursued prey fully underwater.
Sereno and his team concluded that S. mirabilis was a wading, shoreline predator that stalked rivers and riverbanks. The high crest above its skull, they argued, likely served as a visual display feature used to attract mates or signal dominance.
A new species of Spinosaurus has been discovered called Spinosaurus mirabilis pic.twitter.com/wK3HVbVY94
— Dexerto (@Dexerto) February 20, 2026
The new species also showed a lower snout profile and more widely spaced rear teeth compared to S. aegyptiacus, further distinguishing the two.
The study maps three distinct phases of spinosaurid evolution. The first took root in the Jurassic period, when these dinosaurs developed their long, narrow skulls suited for catching fish. That skull design then branched into two separate forms.
In the second phase, during the Early Cretaceous, spinosaurids became the dominant predators across habitats surrounding the ancient Tethys Sea.
The third phase saw the largest species emerge as shallow-water ambush hunters, restricted geographically to northern Africa and South America.
How Spinosaurids conquered ancient waterways
To understand where spinosaurids fit among predators, researchers analyzed body proportions and compared them with those of modern water birds.
The results placed spinosaurids between wading birds like herons and diving birds like darters, far from all other predatory dinosaurs in the analysis.
Their reign ended suddenly. Around 95 million years ago, sea levels rose sharply, and climate conditions shifted. Sereno’s team linked that environmental upheaval directly to the extinction of the entire spinosaurid group.
The discovery of S. mirabilis confirms that Spinosaurus was not an isolated prehistoric anomaly. It was the product of a long, specialized lineage, built over millions of years around life near water.
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