In Depth
Fossils of Iberospinus were first discovered in 1999 and recovered over a period of a few years after. Initially thought to be further fossils of Baryonyx, they were later discovered to represent a new genus of spinosaurid dinosaur, leading to them being named as Iberospinus in 2022. While Iberospinus fossils show some development similar to baryonchine spinosaurs, the genus itself was still held outside the group by the describing authors. Future fossils discoveries may make the establishment of evolutionary relationships easier to determine, but for now we will have to wait.
Iberospinus fossils do show a development to at least a semi-aquatic lifestyle, and indeed the fossils location where the first Iberospinus fossils remains were discovered is thought to have been a lagoon during the early Cretaceous. It is still uncertain how well Iberospinus was adapted to aquatic hunting. Later genera like Spinosaurus seem to have been extremely well adapted, whereas baryonchine spinosaurs that existed earlier and at the same time as Iberospinus were less so. Again, future fossil discoveries may reveal so much more, just like they did with Spinosaurus.
Further reading
- A new theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian) of Cabo Espichel, Portugal: Implications for spinosaurid evolution. - PLOS ONE. 17 (2): e0262614 - Oct�vio Mateus & Dar�o Estraviz-L�pez - 2022.
