New Spinosaurus Species Discovered in Niger

Paleontologists have identified the first unequivocal new species of fish-eating dinosaur Spinosaurus in more than a century.

Spinosaurus mirabilis is one of the last surviving spinosaurid species. Image credit: Dani Navarro.

Appointed Spinosaurus mirabilisthe new species roamed the Earth during the Cretaceous Period, about 95 million years ago.

The dinosaur fossils were discovered in the isolated Jengueb fossil zone in Niger, deep in the central Sahara, by Professor Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and his colleagues.

The most striking feature of Spinosaurus mirabilis is a massive, scimitar-shaped cranial crest, unlike anything previously documented in the group.

“The scimitar-shaped crest of Spinosaurus mirabilis was so large and unexpected that we did not recognize it for what it was initially when we recovered it and some jaw fragments from the desert surface in November 2019,” they explained.

“By returning with a larger team in 2022 and finding two additional ridges, we realized the novelty of the new species we had discovered.”

“Based on the surface texture of the ridge and the interior vascular channels, we believe the crest was sheathed in keratin.”

“This display feature was brightly colored in life, curving toward the sky like a blade-shaped beacon.”

Spinosaurus mirabilis catch the coelacanth Mawsonia about 95 million years ago, originating from a North African river in what is now the Sahara Desert in Niger. Image credit: Dani Navarro.

The discovery of Spinosaurus mirabilis challenges old ideas about where and how spinosaurid dinosaurs lived.

Until now, most spinosaurid fossils had been found in coastal deposits, suggesting that these predators may have been entirely aquatic.

However, the new fossil locality in Niger is between 500 and 1,000 km from the nearest ancient marine coastline.

According to the authors, Spinosaurus mirabilis probably lived in a forested interior habitat dissected by rivers.

“I think of this dinosaur as a sort of ‘heron from hell’ that had no problem wading on its sturdy legs in two meters of water, but probably spent most of its time stalking shallower traps for the many big fish of the day,” Professor Sereno said.

The discovery is reported in a paper published today in the journal Science.

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Paul C. Sereno and others. New crested scimitar Spinosaurus the species of the Sahara gradually limit the influence of spinosaurids. Sciencepublished online February 19, 2026; doi: 10.1126/science.adx5486