Mystery surrounding the giant ‘heron from hell’ dinosaur has finally been cleared up during research

A NEW study could finally put an end to a long debate about a giant dinosaur known as the ‘heron from hell’.

The creature’s scientific name is Spinosaurus aegyptiacus and it has been debated for years.

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That’s because scientists can’t agree on how the Cretaceous-era dinosaur hunted its prey.

The giant predator is thought to have been one of the largest to walk the Earth.

It ate all kinds of prey and was adapted to hunt in water.

Whether it dived deep for its meals or stayed very close to the surface is still debated today.

A team of scientists recently examined bones from a specimen of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus to unravel this mystery once and for all.

Paleontologists from the University of Chicago led the research.

The research has now been published in PLoS ONE log.

A team of researchers examined the creature’s bone density and discovered that it would not have been good at diving.

Modern aquatic animals usually have dense bones that allow them to stay submerged.

It is said that these bones act as a diver’s weight belt.

Some dinosaurs, including Spinosaurus, have air sacs in their bones that help them avoid submersion.

For this reason, the team suspects that the dinosaur resided in shallow waters.

“We think that Spinosaurus, one of the largest predators ever evolved, needed extra bone strength to support its weight on its relatively short hind legs,” explains lead author Paul Sereno.

“Spinosaurus was able to wade into waterways seven feet deep without floating, where it could ambush fish of all sizes with its claws and jaws, all while keeping its toes firmly anchored in the mud.”