Baryonyx
Baryonyx walkeri
Pronounced: Bear - ee
- On - ix
Diet: Carnivore
(Meat-Eater)
Name Means: "Heavy
Claw"
Length: 40 feet (12
m)
Height: 16 feet (5 m)
Weight: 4 tons (3,600
kilos)
Time: Early
Cretaceous - 120 MYA
Fossil remains for this Dinosaur have been found in Northern Europe,
Africa?
Baryonyx was first discovered in a clay
pit in England in 1983 by an amateur fossil
collector named William Walker. He found its
one-foot-long hand claw and took it to the
British Museum in London for help in finding
out just what he had discovered. Like its
relative, Spinosaurus , this dinosaur
seems to have eaten mainly fish. It is
thought that the huge claw on its hand would
have been used to reach into the water and
hook the fish.
The body and back legs of Baryonyx are similar to
other theropod dinosaurs, but from there it gets a
little peculiar. The arms were long and powerfully
built. They had three fingers, one with an enormous
claw. The skull was long and low with twice as many
teeth - 128 - as most other theropods. Even more
strangely, the nasal openings were located on top of its
head, just in front of the eyes. It had teeth similar to
Spinosaurus long and conical with small
serrations, which was also very unlike most theropods.
Baryonyx's neck was long and relatively slender. It is
no accident that its skull and teeth are very similar to
those of a crocodile as they probably both had a diet
consisting primarily of fish. Imagine them as huge
reptilian grizzly bears, fishing with those terrible
foot long claws.
Scientists are still studying the curiosities this
dinosaur presents. It seems to combine some very
primitive characteristics with more advanced dinosaurian
design. As the only known specimen seems to have been a
sub-adult, the upper limits of its size are still
theoretical. |
