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Description
Spinosaurids were specialists, which means that they were built to take advantage of a profoundly vast food source. Many animals, both today and in the far past, have adapted for such a lifestyle to take advantage of a vast glut of food versus a very small amount at any one given time; Giant Pandas are most famous for specializing in eating and digesting bamboo, Giant Anteaters are specialized for eating termites and ant nests, polar bears are specialized in hunting seals, and so on. In the case of Suchomimus, the specialization translates into catching fish, back when the Sahara desert was a massive swampland. Its teeth were conical and perfect for gripping slippery prey, but it provided a problem; conical teeth make it impossible to chew. Crocodiles solved this by using their traditional 'death roll,' which tears rotting and waterlogged meat into sizable chunks that can be swallowed whole, but for a giant dinosaur with extended spines along its back that made it impossible.

Instead, Spinosaurs developed powerful thumb-claws on their forelegs which made them at first mistaken as relatives of the Dromaeosaurs given its powerful curve and sickle-like shape. This powerful thumb claw was useful for tearing through flesh, providing an extra grip for cutting food apart into smaller bits. Here, an unlucky shark has been dragged onto the mainland while the Suchomimus's giant claws rend through its flesh and scales.

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Finally got my camera's battery recharged, so I decided to take new pictures of many of my models for the BZPower forum. Eventually I intend to do some stop motion in the near future with this guy, though I'm going to wait until I have more lights so that I can keep things lit well. What I would give for a proper studio for better stop motion...

Bionicle, Hero Factory, and Legends of Chima (c) Lego
Model made by Kerian-halcyon

-Kerian

Description
Spinosaurids were specialists, which means that they were built to take advantage of a profoundly vast food source. Many animals, both today and in the far past, have adapted for such a lifestyle to take advantage of a vast glut of food versus a very small amount at any one given time; Giant Pandas are most famous for specializing in eating and digesting bamboo, Giant Anteaters are specialized for eating termites and ant nests, polar bears are specialized in hunting seals, and so on. In the case of Suchomimus, the specialization translates into catching fish, back when the Sahara desert was a massive swampland. Its teeth were conical and perfect for gripping slippery prey, but it provided a problem; conical teeth make it impossible to chew. Crocodiles solved this by using their traditional 'death roll,' which tears rotting and waterlogged meat into sizable chunks that can be swallowed whole, but for a giant dinosaur with extended spines along its back that made it impossible.

Instead, Spinosaurs developed powerful thumb-claws on their forelegs which made them at first mistaken as relatives of the Dromaeosaurs given its powerful curve and sickle-like shape. This powerful thumb claw was useful for tearing through flesh, providing an extra grip for cutting food apart into smaller bits. Here, an unlucky shark has been dragged onto the mainland while the Suchomimus's giant claws rend through its flesh and scales.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally got my camera's battery recharged, so I decided to take new pictures of many of my models for the BZPower forum. Eventually I intend to do some stop motion in the near future with this guy, though I'm going to wait until I have more lights so that I can keep things lit well. What I would give for a proper studio for better stop motion...

Bionicle, Hero Factory, and Legends of Chima (c) Lego
Model made by Kerian-halcyon

-Kerian