Ca7 - Spinosaurus aegyptiacus neotype

3D Model

7th caudal vertebra of the Spinosaurus aegyptiacus neotype, FSAC-KK 11888.

The vertebral column of Spinosaurus is characterised by amphicoelous caudal vertebrae. In Ca7, the deepest point in the centre of the concave proximal face is three cm below the rounded rim of the face. All other elements show only a minor degree of amphicoely.

At the level of Ca7, the neural spine is incomplete. The estimated dorsoventral depth is about 80 cm, whereas the transverse breadth is smaller, at about 40 cm.

The specimen is housed in the palaeontological collections of the Université Hassan II, Aïn Chock, Casablanca, Morocco.

Reference: Ibrahim N. et al. (2020). Tail-propelled aquatic locomotion in a theropod dinosaur. Nature, doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2190-3.