Spinosaurus's relatives... or Just Other Spinosaurids: What's Going On with it?

 Spinosaurus's relatives... or Just Other Spinosaurids: What's Going On with it?

 

 Artwork by Dinosaurman in DeviantArt

Spinosaurus is pretty questionable. There are so many questions about this reptile, some of them questioning its lifestyle, some questioning its appearance and some questioning its phylogeny. Today we are talking about the phylogeny and that is because it is extremely interesting, and it will also help us understand Spinosaurus and the group it belongs to later on.

First of all, let's look at the "family tree" of the spinosauridae (the group in which Spinosaurus belongs). Just by looking at it you can tell that something is going on. Just look at Vallibonavenatrix. It is neither placed in the same subgroup as The Spinosaurus nor The Baryonyx, and is generally distant from the other animals in the tree. Then, look at the "spinosaurini". group There are three animals that do not have a proper name: FSAC-KK 11888, MSNM V40471 and "Spinosaurus B" , or "Spinosaurus b". What are these animals, and why do they have such strange names?

	Vallibonavenatrix
	Baryonychinae Iberospinus  Baryonyx  Ceratosuchopsini Suchomimus  Riparovenator  Ceratosuchops  Spinosaurinae Camarillasaurus  Ichthyovenator  Irritator  Spinosaurini Sigilmassasaurus  "Spinosaurus B" MSNM V4047 FSAC-KK 11888 Spinosaurus holotype

Source: Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinosauridae

The first animal, "Spinosaurus B" is new to me. I googled it and found that it's just an enigmatic Spinosaurus skeleton. I also saw some pictures of its bones compared to bones of another enigmatic Spinosaurid, Sigilmassasaurus on researchgate.net (click here to see that post)

The next spinosaurid that does not have a proper name is MSNM V40471. This time I had an idea of what I was looking for: a specimen of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus (S. aegyptiacus). While doing my research, I came across an image containing MSNM V40471, the specimen we would talk about in a moment, FSAC-KK 11888, and another specimen we didn't see, MSNM V6894.

B:MSNM V6894 C:FSAC-KK 11888 D:MSNM V40471. Πηγή εικόνας: https://peerj.com/articles/4785/

 

So now we have a picture of why there are three creatures named museum specimens: because they are museum specimens. Specifically, specimens of the species Spinosaurus aegyptiacus that are really questionable.

First Edition: 9th of January, 2023