ExtinctZoo - The Spinosaurus Had A Twin Brother

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

I wonder who was the favorite child...

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and the Velociraptor. Yet, despite its fame or stature, nearly no one is aware of the fact that the Spinosaurus actually had a twin, so to speak. As while it was dominating in Africa, a spinosaur of nearly equal power and appearance was carrying out its very own rule in South America. This was the Oxalaya.

Unlike its African sibling, who has been known to science for over 100 years, the Oxalaya is a dinosaur much newer to paleontology, being discovered and described in 2011. The first fossil attributed to it was located in the Alcantara formation of northern Brazil and consisted of the frontmost snout bones. Paleontologists were quick to note

that this newly discovered dinosaur was a member of the Spinosaurid family, as its snout shared many characteristics only seen in other Spinosaurids. This clear classification led to a quick description and naming with the founders dubbing it Oxalaya Quillumbensis. A nod to the African deity Obatala.

The finding of such a dinosaur in Brazil was big news, but not necessarily a monumental one, as spinosaurs in Brazil were already known about, and had been since the late 1990s, through genera such as the Irritator. However, despite being a bit late to the party, Oxalaya still blew many away, not because of a crazy feature or anything, but because of its size. As the snout, plus a later found skull fragment, both came from individuals that seemingly dwarfed other known spina sores, minus the spinosaurs, while also outclassing nearly every other theropod known to science, with the most recent studies estimating adults to have been between 12 and 14

meters or 39 and 46 feet in length, while weighing anywhere from 5 to 7 tons, which if accurate would easily make it Brazil's largest predator ever, and one of the top 10 heaviest known theropods. Naturally, its large size would have made mature Oxalaya untouchable to other carnivores, and it's commonly thought that like the Spinosaurus, it too was its environment's apex predator. Because of this shared role between Spinosaurus and Oxalaya and that the two were closely matched in size, paleontologists have long been curious on the relationship between them, the curiosity that is only heightened by the fact that both lived at the exact same times, leading some to consider oxalaya to not be a new dinosaur, but rather a new spinosaurus species, who might have reached

South America via Africa, since at the time the two continents were much closer than they are today. It's also possible that the oxalaya, or rather a direct ancestor, was in South America the whole time, as roughly 140 million years ago, it was physically connected to Africa. And so a population of spina swords may have been divided as the two landmasses split, eventually giving rise to Oxalaya in Brazil. On top of all this, there is yet another argument that oxalaya isn't even a new spinosaurus species, but simply a younger adult of the already described spinosaurus egyptiarchus, who hadn't finished growing. Yet, for now, it's still officially considered a valid genus, with the strongest evidence of its uniqueness being the differences seen in its skulls,

as oxalaya had more tightly packed teeth, a relatively thicker jaw, and a more straightened snout compared to the Spinosaurus. Nevertheless, the similarities were still uncanny, and it's widely believed that the two were very close relatives, with paleontologists considering oxalaya to have been more closely related to the Spinosaurus than to other Brazilian Spinosaurus. Typically, the question surrounding its relation to the Spinosaurus would be further solved by analyzing its entire skeleton, although this is a bit tricky to do with Oxalaya, as its bones no longer exist. Because tragically, after its discovery, all known recovered material was stored in what was Latin America's largest natural history museum, which caught fire in 2018,

leading to the loss of 92.5% of its entire catalog, which also included all the oxalaya's bones, and since then, no more fossils of it have been unearthed. Along with not being able to fully answer the question regarding its relation to the Spinosaurus, the destruction of the bones also means that we don't much about its general appearance, and paleontologists are not even 100% certain if it had a sail or just a ridge. Although due to its proposed close relationship to the Spinosaurus, most reconstructions and studies do assume that it did possess a sail, which it could have used in a number of ways, including heat regulation, display, and intimidation, as it made individuals appear larger

than they really were. Beyond its sale, paleontologists are thankfully able to tell with better confidence what this prehistoric nightmare was like. As across all spinous swords, some features were universal, including extremely robust and powerfully built forelims. Like its relatives, Oxalaya would have had a giant set of stocky arms that were both equipped with relatively large claws, with the first digit possessing a disproportionately long claw, giving it the appearance of having hooks for hands. And to go along with these deadly hooks, the holotype showed that the oxalaya also had in the enormous skull that somewhat resembled that of a modern crocodile and could reach 1.35 meters or 4.4

feet long, making it bigger than the skull of the acrocanthosaurus. And within this giant skull, its mouth was lined with over 40 sharp conical oval-shaped teeth. This all paints a rather menacing picture, and yet these characteristics were actually more good news than bad news for coexisting dinosaurs, as these traits seemingly made Oxalaya better designed for fishing than killing dinosaurs. Specifically, paleontologists believe that it used its large claws to slice and hook slippery large fish, while its teeth further prevented escape thanks to their conical nature.

Additionally, the teeth were arranged in a rosette pattern, which basically made them interlock while clamping down, essentially creating a fish trap. This pattern of teeth is also in fact seen in living animals today, including the Indian gharial, which is currently Earth's most paciferous crocodilian, adding more fuel to the idea that Oxalaya was indeed a master fisher. Even its environment suggests a seafood lifestyle, as many large fish similar and sometimes the exact same, as those seen in the Spinosauruses habitat lived alongside Oxalaya as well, including Atlantico-Pristus, Onchopristus, Mausonia, and Stephanotus.

Don't get confused, though, because in spite of its seemingly lackluster fishy diet, Oxalaya was not a dinosaur to be trifled with, and it had no problem holding its own against terrestrial predators, thanks to its size and deadly claws. Its bite may have also been a decent deterrent, with studies indicating a bite force roughly 20 times that of a wolf. On top of this, Oxalaya had two replacement teeth in each socket, allowing it to switch out damaged teeth and ensuring peak sharpness, while also suggesting it may have been used to attack animals with tough protections. Along with being no pushover, Auxalia likely wasn't a strict piscivore, with the common thought being that overall Auxalia was an opportunistic carnivore that would prey on small to medium-sized

dinosaurs and on aquatic animals from time to time. This is primarily based on findings seen in its relatives, as the irritator is known to have preyed upon pterosaurs, while a baryonic specimen was found with both fish remains and the body of an iguana daunted within its stomach. Adult Oxalaya most likely spent the better part of a day near sources of water where they could prow for fish, while also being on the lookout for any terrestrial animals nearby that they could ambush. However, this is where the confusion arises once again, as if you know anything about Spinosaurids, namely the Spinosaurus,

then you know that no one agrees on to what level these guys were accustomed to water, leading some to think that Oxalaya was an adept swimmer who was capable of deep diving for food, while others are more conservative, believing that it wouldn't have been a graceful swimmer, being limited to swimming clunkily on the surface, while preferring to stick to the coasts and wading in shallow water. In the most recent studies tend to back the weighting hypothesis more, though this is still very heavily debated. Whatever the case, we know that oxalaya to some degree did get wet.

As unlike other theropods, its nostrils were positioned much farther up along its snout, A design meant to help keep water out of the nostrils when its head was partially submerged. So while clearly having some adaptations meant for a watery life, scientists believed that Oxalaya was still surprisingly adept on land, even though it had fairly shortened legs, and was probably fast enough to catch an array of lumbering animals, especially if it was employing ambush, which seemed very probable considering its environment.

Studies on the formation where it was found suggests that during the Lake Cretaceous, Oxalaya lived in a habitat not far from the coast that had a mix of fresh water and brackish water, while the land itself was dominated by humid tropical forests, where conifers, ferns, and horsetails created thick canopies, providing ample hiding places for all. Past these forests, the earth gave way to open areas that were much more brutal and dry, holding an arid or semi-arid climate, with periods of lengthy droughts being common. Animals typically try to avoid these areas,

But in the forest and coastline, life was extremely abundant, leading to Oxalaya, living alongside many other dinosaurs, including Lemaeosaurus, Malawisaurus, Itapawasaurus, a Carcaraadontasord, two titanosaurs, one abelosaur, and a dromaeosaur. It also lived alongside other spinosaurs, one of which is undetermined, while the other was Sigilmasosaurus, who came close in size to Oxalaya, and was the second largest. predator around. But it is even more controversial than the spinosaurus's twin. With many thinking, it may not be a new genus, rather a synonym for another spinosaurid. In addition to dinosaurs and the previously mentioned fish, non-dinosaurus were plentiful as well, being represented by animals

such as terrosaurs, karingasukis, turtles, and snakes. Much of the life found on these ancient lands were akin to what was seen in the Kem-kem formation of northern Africa, where the spinosaurus reigned mostly supreme. The similarities between the two formations are again thought to be a result of the connection that Brazil and Africa once had 140 million years ago. The shared life ultimately proved useful for Oxalaya, as it provided the Spina Sword with an ecosystem perfect for its skill set, and fossil records show that it thrived there for millions of years, from 100.5 million years ago to 93.9 million years ago, when it then suddenly vanished from the fossil records. It took Its extinction is pretty interesting, considering that it died out around the exact same time

of the Spinosaurus, which also marked the end of the Spina swords as far as we know. No one is certain on what took these two out, but one idea that is usually brought forth in the matter is that rising sea levels may have destroyed their preferred habitats, triggering a slow decline and leading Oxalaya to have to compete with other terrestrial hunters that were better adapted for hunting big game. On the flip side, another proposed hypothesis is that a long-standing drought killed off its prey and depleted freshwater sources, and thus again leading to its final demise. While it may be gone for good, the Oxalaya is still undeniably one of the most menacing

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