Crocoparc Agadir Brings the Spinosaurus Back to Life in an Exhibition Blending Science and Entertainment

The “Crocoparc Agadir” crocodile park is currently welcoming visitors with an experience combining entertainment and popular science, through the display of a life-size replica of the “Spinosaurus” dinosaur, one of the most iconic creatures to have lived in Morocco’s ancient ecosystems.

The replica measures 11 metres in length, giving visitors the opportunity to see this famous dinosaur up close and explore its anatomical features and distinctive proportions, within a recreated setting depicting the environment in which it lived nearly 100 million years ago.

The exhibition reflects the park’s aim of bringing scientific knowledge closer to the public by presenting the Spinosaurus in a space featuring fossils, footprints and large murals evoking the world of the Cretaceous period and highlighting the diversity of life at that time.

Associated with the Kem Kem region in southeastern Morocco, the Spinosaurus is considered one of the most remarkable dinosaurs because of its long, crocodile-like snout, large dorsal sail and morphology linked to adaptations to an aquatic or semi-aquatic environment.

Fossil evidence indicates that the regions that now form the southeastern part of the Kingdom were home, around 100 million years ago, to highly biodiverse river systems inhabited by numerous species of fish, reptiles and dinosaurs.

Within these ecosystems, the Spinosaurus occupied a prominent position, making its anatomical features and adaptations a subject of interest for researchers, particularly regarding its way of life and relationship with aquatic environments.

“Crocoparc Agadir” says that the display of this replica is intended to establish a link between scientific discovery and Morocco’s fossil heritage, while enabling visitors to grasp the importance of these discoveries in a visual and interactive way.

The history of the discovery of the Spinosaurus dates back to the beginning of the 20th century in Egypt, where the first specimen studied by scientists was destroyed during the Second World War. Subsequent discoveries, particularly those unearthed in the fossil-bearing formations of Morocco’s Kem Kem region, have advanced scientific knowledge of this dinosaur and raised new questions about its characteristics and way of life.

These discoveries have also strengthened the position of the Kem Kem region among the important sites for the study of African ecosystems during the Late Cretaceous, owing to the data it provides on the biodiversity that characterised this period in Earth’s history.

Source: Dar Al Khabar