The Discovery

A study published in the journal Current Biology has used artificial intelligence to resolve longstanding debates about how ancient creatures adapted to aquatic environments. Paleontologists have struggled for decades to determine whether certain extinct animals lived on land, in water, or both, because fossil records are often incomplete or offer conflicting evidence. To overcome these limitations, researchers analyzed more than 11,000 measurements, photographs, and CT X-ray scans of fossil and modern specimens housed at the Yale Peabody Museum and dozens of other institutions around the world.

What Scientists Found

Author Caleb Gordon and the research team used an AI model to evaluate skeletal proportions against known animal lifestyles. The analysis yielded groundbreaking insights into two prehistoric groups:

  • Spinosaurus: Famous as the main antagonist in 2001's Jurassic Park III, this giant dinosaur lived in present-day northern Africa between 113 million and 94 million years ago. Previous studies debated whether it hunted along shorelines like modern herons or pursued prey underwater like seals or penguins. The new AI analysis demonstrated that Spinosaurus spent the vast majority of its life submerged underwater, strongly supporting the underwater hunting theory.
  • Mesosaurs: These ancient marine reptiles inhabited regions of present-day South Africa and eastern South America between 290 million and 274 million years ago. Although previously assumed to be fully aquatic because they gave birth to live young, the study found their limbs were not adapted for a purely aquatic life. Instead, mesosaurs regularly moved between land and water, similar to modern platypuses or alligators.

Why It Matters

While life originally evolved from the sea onto land, many reptile and mammal groups eventually returned to the water, developing flippers and other features to become better swimmers. The new AI model allows scientists to estimate how extinct species used aquatic habitats and even predict unpreserved tissue adaptations, such as swimming structures.

The findings also highlight a broader pattern among early marine reptiles. Even species highly adapted to swimming appear to have regularly returned to land, maintaining amphibious lifestyles prior to the disappearance of the dinosaurs.

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Source: prehistoric animals new study - BingNews · Published October 26, 2026 · Photo by Hannah Pemberton on Unsplash