New evidence suggests spinosaurus spent most of its life underwater

Millions of years after animals first conquered land, some took an extraordinary evolutionary U-turn and returned to the water. Using machine learning and thousands of fossil measurements, Yale scientists have uncovered surprising clues about which prehistoric creatures truly became aquatic. Their findings suggest that Spinosaurus spent most of its life underwater, while some ancient marine reptiles previously thought to be fully aquatic actually spent considerable time on land.

New evidence suggests spinosaurus spent most of its life underwater. But the journey did not always move in one direction. Many species eventually returned to the water, developing new adaptations that allowed them to thrive in aquatic environments.

Dozens of major groups of mammals and reptiles made this remarkable evolutionary reversal. Now, a new study from Yale University is shedding light on when and how these transitions occurred, as well as which ancient animals became fully aquatic and which continued to depend on land. The findings were published in the journal Current Biology.