Spectacular new Spinosaurus found in Niger, Africa
- Scientists discovered a new dinosaur species, Spinosaurus mirabilis, in the Sahara Desert of Niger.
- The new species had a tall, scimitar-shaped head crest and lived about 95 million years ago, hunting fish in rivers.
- This discovery suggests spinosaurs might have lived inland in forested river habitats, not just near the coast.
Newly discovered dinosaur had an eye-catching head crest
Spinosaurs were large dinosaurs that lived about 100 to 94 million years ago. They were notable for distinctive projections on their backs that looked like sails. Scientists first discovered this dinosaur genus in 1915, and for a long time, there was just one recognized species. But on February 19, 2026, a research team led by Paul Sereno, a paleontologist at the University of Chicago, said they’ve discovered a new spinosaur species in the Central Sahara Desert. They named it Spinosaurus mirabilis – mirabilis means “astonishing” in Latin – because it had an unusual, tall crest on its head.
Sereno said:
This find was so sudden and amazing, it was really emotional for our team. I’ll forever cherish the moment in camp when we crowded around a laptop to look at the new species for the first time, after one member of our team generated 3D digital models of the bones we found to assemble the skull, on solar power in the middle of the Sahara. That’s when the significance of the discovery really registered.
Sereno and his colleagues published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Nature on February 19, 2026.
This Spinosaurus was a dramatic-looking creature!
Spinosaurs lived 100 to 94 million years ago in present-day Africa. Until now, researchers only recognized one species, Spinosaurus aegyptiacus. Scientists found those fossils at sites that were once coastal habitats when the animals were alive. Therefore, they thought these dinosaurs could be aquatic or semi-aquatic, capable of hunting for fish in the sea. But the degree to which they took to the water was not clear.
These dinosaurs had upward-projecting bones from their backs, creating stunning sail-like features. The animals likely used the sail for display, and it may have even regulated body temperature. In addition, S. aegyptiacus had a long skull similar to crocodiles, optimized for catching fish.
These unusual dinosaurs became extinct about 94 million years ago, due to a rapid rise in sea level and climate change.
A video of Paul Sereno and his team in the field, in Niger, in 2022. Provided by the University of Chicago.
Finding a new Spinosaurus in Niger
In 2019, a local man in the Republic of Niger led Sereno and his team to a site called Jenguebi that had large fossil bones. Due to the long journey back to camp, the team only had time to grab a few fossils, including teeth and jawbones. But they did not yet know it was a new dinosaur species.
In 2022, Sereno returned to Jenguebi with a larger team. During that expedition, they found more fossils there, as well as many more at a site called Iguidi. In all, they were able to collect incomplete skeletons from several individuals, all of them immature spinosaurs that had not reached adulthood.
He said:
The local people we work with are my lifelong friends, now including the man who led us to Jenguebi and the astonishing spinosaur. They understand the importance of what we’re doing together, for science and for their country.
Spinosaurus mirabilis
During the 2022 expedition, as they examined their finds, the team realized they had discovered a species new to science. This spinosaur had an unusually tall head crest. Also, the teeth arrangement in its jaw was a bit different from that of S. aegyptiacus.
The new spinosaur had a crest at the top of the skull that the researchers described as scimitar-shaped. That’s a short sword with a curved blade that becomes broader at its tip. In addition, internal vascular canals and the surface texture of the crest suggested it was once coated in keratin. That’s a fibrous protein found in hair, nails and horns. Moreover, they speculated this crest might have been brightly colored.
S. mirabilis’ jaws were quite formidable, similar to those of S. aegyptiacus. It had interdigitating upper and lower tooth rows. In other words, the teeth in the lower jaw extended outward. Meanwhile, the lower jaw teeth interlocked with those in the upper jaw. This is a feature that exists in many fish-eating animals in the fossil record, such as ichthyosaurs, pterosaurs and some crocodiles.
The bones they collected all came from subadult animals. Therefore, it’s hard to determine the size of an adult S. mirabilis. However, they were able to establish that the individual initially used to describe the species – the holotype – was about 26 feet (8 meters) long.
New clues to how spinosaurs lived
The previously known S. aegyptiacus was found in North Africa, at locations that were once coastal habitat when the animals were alive. Scientists wondered if spinosaurs were fully aquatic and able to dive for prey. But there was considerable debate about it.
However, this new discovery paints a different picture of how spinosaurs may have lived. About 95 million years ago, Jenguebi was 310 miles (500 km) from the coastline. Iguidi was even further away, about 620 miles (1,000 km). That’s pretty far inland from the ocean.
Moreover, the scientists also found fossils from two long-necked dinosaurs (sauropods) near the S. mirabilis fossils. In fact, all those bones had been buried in river sediment. This indicated that S. mirabilis and the other dinosaurs lived in close proximity, in an inland forested habitat that had a network of rivers. Therefore, the researchers think S. mirabilis hunted for fish in shallow water.
Sereno commented:
I envision this dinosaur as a kind of ‘hell heron’ that had no problem wading on its sturdy legs into two meters of water but probably spent most of its time stalking shallower traps for the many large fish of the day.
Bottom line: Scientists discovered a previously unknown 95-million-year-old spinosaur species, Spinosaurus mirabilis, in Niger, Africa, which had a tall crest on its head.
Source: Scimitar-crested Spinosaurus species from the Sahara caps stepwise spinosaurid radiation
Read more: The most exciting dinosaur discoveries of 2025
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