Palaeontologists discover new dinosaur species Spinosaurus mirabilis in Niger’s Sahara

Exam-focused facts from the 21 February 2026 current affairs briefing.

Key facts

Spinosaurus mirabilis, a massive fish-hunting dinosaur, lived 95 million years ago in present-day Niger.
The species features a rare curved, scimitar-shaped crest on its skull.
University of Chicago palaeontologist Paul Sereno led the excavation that began with first bones found in 2019 and resumed in 2022.
The findings were published in the journal Science.
Unlike coastal relatives, this spinosaur was discovered hundreds of kilometres inland, indicating freshwater river hunting in a once forested landscape.