User:Abyssal/Prehistory of Europe/Prehistory articles/22

Baryonyx is a genus of theropod dinosaur which lived in the Barremian stage of the early Cretaceous Period, about 130–125 million years ago. The holotype specimen was discovered in 1983 in Surrey, England, and the animal was named Baryonyx walkeri in 1986. Fragmentary specimens were later discovered in other parts of the United Kingdom and Iberia. Baryonyx was about 7.5 m long and weighed 1.2 MT. It had a long, low snout and narrow jaws, which have been compared to those of a gharial. Baryonyx had many finely serrated teeth. It had robust forelimbs, with the eponymous first-finger claw measuring about 31 cm long.

Now recognised as a member of the family Spinosauridae, Baryonyx affinities were obscure when it was discovered. Apart from the type species (B. walkeri), some researchers have suggested that Suchomimus tenerensis belongs in the same genus and that Suchosaurus cultridens is a senior synonym; however, subsequent authors have kept them separate. Baryonyx was the first theropod dinosaur demonstrated to have been piscivorous (fish-eating), as evidenced by fish scales in the stomach region of the holotype specimen. It may also have been an active predator of larger prey and a scavenger, since it also contained bones of a juvenile Iguanodon. The creature would have caught and processed its prey primarily with its forelimbs and large claws. Baryonyx lived near bodies of water. (see more...)