Why are these crocodiles spending
so much time on dry land?
Is it because their watery homes
are too polluted?
Or is it because they're scared
of a bigger predator lurking in the water?
An ancient dinosaur
that we thought was long gone,
but it never left.
Meet the Spinosaurus.
It's more massive than the Tyrannosaurus rex,
likes to swim,
and loves to eat anything that enters its territory.
If humans had been living alongside
these river monsters all along,
how different would our lives have been?
The Spinosaurus lived
about 95 million years ago.
With a body length of 14-18 meters (46–59 feet),
and an estimated mass of
12,000–20,000 kg (13–22 tons),
it was the largest predator
the Nile has ever seen.
If it had somehow managed
to avoid the extinction of the dinosaurs,
it would still be swimming there.
And Egypt would have never developed
to be what it is today.
The Spinosaurus had a long tail that
produced a higher thrust,
and was more efficient in the water
than the tail shapes of other dinosaurs.
This made them very hard to escape
from in the water.
But they were not as threatening on land,
because they were pretty clumsy,
and not well-adapted to it.
So, if we lived in a world where the
Spinosaurus still existed,
then all we'd have to do is
stay out of their water,
and we'd be safe. Right?
Not exactly.
We wouldn't be the only ones
to fear these giant dinosaurs.
Today, lots of crocodiiles
live along the Nile River.
If the Spinosaurus had survived
the mass extinction,
and still lived in the Nile today,
the crocodiles would be looking
for a new home on land.
If crocodiles became land dwellers,
the land along the Nile
would look very different too.
Crocodiles might eat small mammals,
and humans would need to be more
aware of their surroundings
to protect themselves from the crocodiles.
As bad as an increase in
crocodile encounters sounds,
it wouldn't be the most significant change
we'd experience in a world with Spinosaurus.
Egypt's history and social evolution
could have been very different.
Ancient Egyptian culture
relied on the Nile River,
and if this large semi-aquatic dinosaur
was roaming around,
they might not have been able to use it as much.
Or at least they would have needed
a way to protect themselves
from the giant dinosaur.
Hunting the Spinosaurus
wouldn't have been easy,
but it would have been necessary
if Northern African communities
wanted a steady supply of fish to eat.
The practice would have become
so important to the people's
survival that hieroglyphics would
probably have had drawings of the dinosaur,
and how the Egyptians captured and killed them.
Over the years, in true human form,
we would probably have started hunting
the Spinosaurus for sport and fashion.
You think crocodile boots are cool?
Wait until you see Spinosaurus sandals!
Maybe we would even have hunted them
so much that they'd be
on the brink of extinction.
And what then?
Would they become a protected species,
or would we all be happy
to see them disappear?
Well, before you go making
"Save the Spinosaurus" signs,
just remember that
none of this is really likely to have happened.
The Spinosaurus probably died
from the mass extinction event
that wiped out the dinosaurs.
If it didn't, it would have
quickly gone extinct soon after
because of the lack of food.
There would have been massive competition
for food between Spinosaurs,
since the environment was more
favorable for small creatures that
didn’t need as much food.
But that's probably a good thing.
Even if it might've been cool
to live with dinosaurs,
if these huge dinosaurs were still living,
they would have changed evolution in Africa.
We might have had different fish,
land animals, and
ancient civilizations that were adapted
for living alongside these massive creatures.
Maybe even our bodies would've evolved
to become different.
But that's a story for another WHAT IF.