Giant fishing dinosaurs: Uncovering Spinosaurus and Baryonyx – with David Hone

Spinosaurus and baryonyx were large dinosaurs with very big arms and claws. But what exactly do we know about them? What were they up to? How did they live? And what did they eat?
Palaeontologist David Hone explores the latest discoveries about spinosaurus and baryonyx dinosaurs.

The huge African carnivorous dinosaur Spinosaurus has long been a source of fascination for palaeontologists with its unusual combination of crocodile-like snout and bony sail along its back. Recently, new specimens have fuelled the discussion over the ecology of this unusual animal and it’s less famous, but no less interesting British cousins including Baryonyx. So what were these animals up to, how did they live and what did they eat, could they swim and did they even fish?

The talk with feature dinosaur specimens from the speakers own collection, as well as a number of specimens loaned from the Natural History Museum.

Dr David Hone is a palaeontologist and writer whose research focuses on the behaviour and ecology of the dinosaurs and their flying relatives, the pterosaurs. His research is aimed at answering key questions about these animals and how they lived their lives in terms of their behaviour and ecology

David writes extensively online about palaeontology and science outreach, blog for the science pages of The Guardian, and has published a popular science book about tyrannosaurs with Bloomsbury, entitled the tyrannosaur chronicles. He is Senior Lecturer and Deputy Director of Education in the School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences at Queen Mary University London.

This talk was filmed on 28 January 2021.

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[HiveFleetOni]

"You can't be a paleontologist without showing pictures of yourself digging things up, so here are some pictures of me digging things up!"

Started out strong, and stayed on form the whole time.

A great presentation!

[MariusPartenie]

Yes, David Hone is back! Loved his presentation on T-Rex.

[yuu_megumi]

Loved his lecture on T-Rex, so I got really excited when I knew he'd talk about my favorite dinosaurs the spinos. Despite being upset for not being able to attend to it in person, it's a delight to watch it nevertheless and I'm really thankful to the Ri for posting this lecture.
I have thought of becoming a paleontologist and dig, specially to look for spinos, but I definitely have no means to pursue this goal. However, it's nice to have Hone calling potential paleontologists out and it makes me consider following such path after I get a stable life.
Amazing lecture as always, Mr Hone. Thank you.

[luckytime]

I’d love to see this guy speak on pterosaurs, Quetzalcoatl is my favorite! Amazing how such a large animal could fly regularly like they did!

[garywebster]

David Hone ; legend. Great researcher, excellent presenter, witty and unpretentious. Does'nt presume to know it all which is rare in these days of lysenko science. Podcast is great fun and a new book which is a must read.

[joshuatatum]

Wow! I was scouring this channel for more Dave Hone videos, what a treat

[Velociraptor]

As always a great presentation from Dr. Hone. I strongly recommend his new book and his Podcast with Mrs. Iszi Lawrence "Terrible Lizards". It's great !

[CRSBO]

The whole talk is wonderful, but the image of a Spinosaurus running across water is amazing all on it's own

[Captain_Gargoyle]

Dr. Hone is so knowledgeable and such a great science communicator! His knowledge goes well beyond Spinosaurus. I'm sure its been mentioned elsewhere but if you like this talk then i _strongly_ recommend Dr Hone's podcast "Terrible Lizards" which he does with comedian Iszi Lawrence.

[caseybelden]

Wait a minute. I’ve been watching Dr. Hone’s videos for weeks now, idolizing him and all of a sudden he name drops my Paleontology Professor, Dr. Holtz, as a key coauthor for his research. Never in my life did I’d expect to have 1 degree of connection to Dr. Hone!!!!

[persianking]

Spinosaurus, while not my favorite dinosaur, is a species that just continues to fascinate me the more and more we uncover about it's physiology, behavior, and lifestyle.

[caaarloraptor]

Fantastic presentation! Spinosaurs are my favourite species and being an Englishmen Bary has always been my number one ☝🏼 really great stuff thank you.

[IdaiMakayaPublications]

This was really good. Following the scientific evidence, rather than the fanciful forced-fit suggestions we often see from dinosaur researchers on YouTube.

[Anglashock]

Thank you David. Been interested in dinosaurs for decades now and you have rekindled my interest again. Awesome. More lectures please🇦🇺

[Jayson_Tatum]

To me, as soon as i saw the first major update on Spinosaurus, with the short legs and spined tail, i immediately thought of shallow water ambush hunter - like a heron. Everything about its physiology screams heron-like hunter. I picture spino being just like the picture by Bob Nicholls at 32:30. It having such a long, straight tail actually makes sense as a counterweight for an animal that is primarily ankle and muzzle-deep in water most of the time. I do think though that spino was possibly in a somewhat transition point before going extinct. I mean that it was possibly still a decent swimmer and slowly transitioning into more aquatic life. You can see this with its legs getting shorter, mainly. I wouldn't be surprised if it is later discovered to have had webbed feet. The spino, as opposed to the Baryonyx, was not a very quick animal at all. It's so massive with very small legs, so there was no real way it could be very fast. This supports it being a waterside ambush predator even more. Baryonyx and Suchomimus, however, seemed like a type of animal that was likely an earlier, less specialized version of what spino ended up becoming. Maybe they started as a more typical theropod, but some branches became incredibly specialized, becoming Spinosaurus.

[richardparrott]

What a fantastic presentation, always such a pleasure to hear David speak!

[stephen]

What an absolute winner that he's made another video. Love this guy! My favourite dinosaur too (Baryonyx) :P

[h.i.]

Thank you Dr Hone, please keep them coming!

[ezragonzalez]

have watch his T-rex presentation over 20 times since it came out 5 years ago wanting to see more of him 5 years later yes! this guy is wonderful!

[woooster]

David is very easy and engaging to listen to.. Always had an interest in Palaeontology since a young child.. & having recently turned 50 I am re-discovering this interest. Would love to attend a lecture or take on an educational course. Never too late 😊