Bold claim: a newly discovered Spinosaurus species from the Sahara reshapes our view of where and how these giants lived. Here’s a clearer, reader-friendly rewrite that preserves every key detail while expanding slightly for clarity.
New Spinosaurus Species Unearthed in Central Sahara
A scientific paper published in Science introduces Spinosaurus mirabilis, a fresh spinosaurid species discovered in Niger. A twenty-member team led by Paul Sereno, PhD, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago, excavated the fossil remains from a remote area in the central Sahara. This find adds crucial new material to our understanding of how spinosaurids evolved toward the end of their lineage.
Attention-Grabbing Features of the Anatomy
The creature’s distinctive scimitar-shaped crest is so large and surprising that researchers initially mistook it for something other than a bone fragment when they recovered it, along with jaw pieces, from the desert surface in November 2019. A larger expedition in 2022 recovered two more crests, confirming that this was not a fluke but the hallmark of a new species. Analyses of the crest’s surface texture and internal vascular channels suggest the crest was sheathed in keratin and likely brightly colored in life, arching upward like a blade in display.
Another remarkable skull trait is the interdigitating arrangement of the upper and lower teeth, which would have created an exceptionally effective trap for slippery fish. Interlocking teeth—where the lower jaw teeth extend between the upper teeth—has been a long-standing adaptation among fish-eating reptiles in the fossil record, including aquatic ichthyosaurs, semi-aquatic crocodilians, and flying pterosaurs. Among dinosaurs, this feature helps distinguish Spinosaurus and its closest relatives.
Sereno described the moment as emotionally overwhelming for the team: seeing the new species take shape on a laptop after a team member generated 3D digital skull models from the bones found in the Sahara, all powered by solar energy. He emphasized that this moment underscored the significance of the discovery.
Habitat Clues: Inland Waters, Not Just Shorelines
Previously, most spinosaur fossils were found in coastal deposits near ancient shorelines, which led some experts to propose that these fish-eating theropods lived primarily in fully aquatic environments. The Niger site, however, reveals animals living far inland—roughly 500 to 1,000 kilometers from the nearest sea. The remains were buried in river sediments alongside intact partial skeletons of long-necked dinosaurs, pointing to a forested, inland habitat dissected by rivers.
Sereno envisions Spinosaurus mirabilis as a kind of inland-adapted hunter, capable of wading into about two meters of water on sturdy legs yet spending most of its time ambushing prey in shallow riverine traps teeming with large fish.
A Remarkable Sahara Expedition
The expedition began with a single line from a 1950s monograph by a French geologist mentioning a sabre-shaped fossil tooth linked to Carcharodontosaurus found in Egypt’s Western Desert at the turn of the last century. Sereno recalled that no one had revisited that tooth site in more than seventy years, making the journey into the Sahara a bold and uncertain pursuit. The team eventually located an even more remote fossil site and the new species teeth-marked their discovery. Several young scholars on the project are now co-authors on the Science cover story.
An unexpected guide—a local Tuareg man—led the researchers on a motorbike into central Sahara where he had seen large fossil bones. After a day of travel and mounting doubts about success, he brought them to a fossil field. There, with limited time before returning to camp, the team recovered teeth and jaw bones belonging to the new Spinosaurus species.
Sereno has felt a magnetic pull to the Sahara for decades. He describes the landscape as uniquely beautiful yet formidable. After excavating more than 100 tons of fossils, he reflects that braving the harsh conditions and pursuing the unknown can yield discoveries that illuminate a lost world.
Impact and Outreach
This discovery enriches Niger’s heritage in paleontology and archaeology, areas in which Sereno has long been involved. He has led an international, award-winning effort to build the world’s first zero-energy museum, the Museum of the River, which is planned for Niamey, Niger’s capital, on an island in the Niger River. The museum will showcase Africa’s dinosaur-era discoveries, including this remarkable spinosaur species, alongside evidence of ancient Green Sahara cultures.
Sereno emphasized the strong bonds with local communities, noting that the people who guided the team to Jenguebi and the spinosaur are lifelong friends who understand the importance of this collaborative work for science and for Niger.
Paleoart and Education
Back in Chicago, Sereno’s team at the South Side Fossil Lab prepared a CT-based digital skull reconstruction from the recovered teeth and bones. A paleoartist in Madrid, Dani Navarro, helped craft an action scene featuring fleshed-out reconstructions of Spinosaurus mirabilis contending with a coelacanth carcass. Navarro also created a detailed 3D model of the dinosaur. Additional artists in Chicago and Italy brought Navarro’s model to life through animations and renders, which were used to illustrate the Science cover and broader outreach.
To spark curiosity and learning, the team also produced a life-sized skull replica and a colorful crest model for public display. On March 1, these replicas will join Sereno’s Dinosaur Expedition exhibit at the Chicago Children’s Museum, giving young visitors a hands-on introduction to this new dinosaur.
Sereno underscored the value of exciting young minds: letting kids feel the thrill of discovery helps cultivate the next generation of scientists who will continue exploring and protecting our planet.
Citation Note
The Science paper detailing the new spinosaurid, Spinosaurus mirabilis, appeared in February 2026. The listed co-authors are Paul C. Sereno, Daniel Vidal, Nathan P. Myhrvold, Evan Johnson-Ransom, María Ciudad Real, Stephanie L. Baumgart, Noelia Sánchez Fontela, Todd L. Green, Evan T. Saitta, Boubé Adamou, Lauren L. Bop, Tyler M. Keillor, Erin C. Fitzgerald, Didier B. Dutheil, Robert A. S. Laroche, Alexandre V. Demers-Potvin, Álvaro Simarro, Francesc Gascó-Lluna, Ana Lázaro, Arturo Gamonal, Charles V. Beightol, Vincent Reneleau, Rachel Vautrin, Filippo Bertozzo, Alejandro Granados, Grace Kinney-Broderick, Jordan C. Mallon, Rafael M. Lindoso, and Jahandar Ramezani. The public release notes that this material, originally from Mirage News, reflects the authors’ positions and interpretations at the time of publication.
Would you like a quick side-by-side comparison of Spinosaurus mirabilis with other spinosaurids, or a timeline showing how inland discoveries like this shift our understanding of their ecology? Also, what aspects of this discovery would you like to see highlighted in a social-media teaser to spark reader engagement?
