Spinosaurus Neural Spine Fragment - Authentic Kem Kem Fossil Specimen

A Spinosaurus Neural Spine Fossil From Morocco's Kem Kem Beds

This Spinosaurus neural spine fossil is a real fragment of a vertebra from the giant predator Spinosaurus. It includes part of the neural spine, the bone behind the Spinosaurus sail. The piece measures 0.4 to 0.6 in.

Product Details

• Specimen: Spinosaurus vertebra fragment including part of the neural spine
• Specimen size: 0.4 in to 0.6 in
• Origin: Kem Kem beds, Morocco
• Age: About 97 million years old, Cretaceous
• Display: Padded acrylic gem jar inside a glass-topped display case
• Includes: Informational photo card with a statement of authenticity

Bone From a Sail-Backed Giant

Neural spines are the tall bony blades that rise from the vertebrae. The first known Spinosaurus had spines nearly six feet long, says the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Scientists still debate the Spinosaurus sail. One idea is a fatty hump. A 2014 reconstruction found too few blood vessels in the spines for a hump, and suggested skin-covered display spines.

The Kem Kem Beds

The Kem Kem beds lie in southeastern Morocco. In the Cretaceous they formed part of a large river system. Any Kem Kem fossil comes from that waterway. The fauna resembles that of Egypt's Bahariya Oasis, where Spinosaurus was first found in 1912.

Every Moroccan dinosaur fossil from these beds records a river world. More pieces wait in our Authentic Fossil Specimens and our Natural History Collection.

Display and Care

The jar is padded, so this Kem Kem fossil stays safe inside. Keep the case away from direct sun and damp.

About Spinosaurus

Ernst Stromer named Spinosaurus in 1915. A 1944 bombing of Munich destroyed his fossils. A 2014 paper on a Moroccan skeleton found dense bones and short hind legs. These hint at a semiaquatic life. A 2020 paper described a tall, fin-like tail. Your Spinosaurus neural spine fossil is a Moroccan dinosaur fossil from the same region.

For More Reading from the Web

• Follow the long search for Spinosaurus. The Strange Saga of Spinosaurus - Carnegie Museum of Natural History