Suchomimus tenerensis

Suchomimus tenerensis is one of the most complete spinosaurids yet recovered. Its partial skull and skeleton revealed that the group combined an elongated, crocodile-like snout with strong forelimbs and a large first-finger claw. The original reconstruction reached about eleven metres, although later mass and body-proportion estimates vary. Suchomimus is traditionally regarded as a close African relative of the European Baryonyx. A 2026 study renewed the proposal that it may represent the same taxon as the fragmentary Cristatusaurus lapparenti, so its name and precise taxonomic status are currently debated rather than settled.

Its fossils occur between approximately 125 and 112 million years ago. Values shown here are approximate and reflect the current curated seed dataset.

The snout was extremely long, low and transversely narrow, expanding near its tip into a tooth-bearing rosette. Each premaxilla held seven finely serrated, slightly recurved conical teeth. The nostrils sat farther back than in most theropods. Robust upper arms, enlarged forearm muscle attachments and a huge curved thumb claw formed a powerful grasping apparatus. Blade-shaped neural spines produced a shallower ridge or sail over the back and hips than the deep sail reconstructed for Spinosaurus.

• Extremely long, low and narrow snout with a terminal tooth rosette
• Seven premaxillary teeth on each side
• Conical crowns with fine serrations and textured enamel
• Powerful forelimbs with hypertrophied muscle attachments
• Enlarged sickle-shaped thumb claw
• Low ridge formed by elongated dorsal, sacral and front-tail neural spines

A field team led by Paul Sereno recovered the partial disarticulated skeleton MNN GDF500 from the Elrhaz Formation at Gadoufaoua in Niger's Ténéré Desert. Sereno and twelve coauthors named Suchomimus tenerensis in Science in November 1998. The holotype and referred material are catalogued in the Musée National du Niger in Niamey. The genus combines Greek words for crocodile and mimic, while tenerensis refers to the Ténéré region.

Naming authors: Paul C. Sereno, Allison L. Beck, Didier B. Dutheil and 10 coauthors.

The Elrhaz Formation records broad river channels and vegetated floodplains crossing what is now the Ténéré Desert. Suchomimus shared this freshwater landscape with the sail-backed herbivore Ouranosaurus, the iguanodontian Lurdusaurus, sauropods, fishes, turtles and several large crocodile-line reptiles.

Its narrow snout, conical teeth and enlarged jaw tip are compatible with seizing fish, but they do not demonstrate an exclusively fish-based diet. Strong arms and the enlarged thumb claw may also have helped restrain prey or process carcasses. The skeleton does not reveal hunting style, swimming ability, social behaviour or parental care.

• The original skeletal reconstruction measured approximately eleven metres long.
• Its name literally describes both its crocodile-like skull and the Ténéré Desert where it was found.
• The holotype's femur is about 1.075 metres long.
• Its thumb claw and powerful arm evolved before the most extreme spinosaurid skull specialisations.

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1. 01
   A long-snouted predatory dinosaur from Africa and the evolution of spinosaurids

   Paul C. Sereno, Allison L. Beck, Didier B. Dutheil and 10 coauthors · Science 282(5392), 1298–1302 · 1998

   Open source
2. 02
   Neurovascular system and dental renewal in the rostrum of Spinosauridae: new descriptions and implications on non-olfactive snout sensitivity of dinosaurs

   Frédéric Pittet · Geodiversitas 48(12), 227–272 · 2026

   Open source