Irritator

spinosaur · Brazil · Early Cretaceous · fish-eater

Fierce fish hunter. Irritator was a spinosaurid dinosaur, meaning it had a tall sail of spines running down its back and hunted fish in rivers and swamps rather than other dinosaurs.

Famous skull fossil. Scientists found a nearly complete skull of Irritator in Brazil, which was unusual because dinosaur skulls are often broken into pieces and hard to study.

Named for frustration. The dinosaur got its funny name 'Irritator' because fossil hunters had damaged and changed the skull before scientists could examine it, which really annoyed the paleontologists.

Ancient Brazil resident. Irritator lived about 113 to 110 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous Period in what is now northeastern Brazil, in a river system surrounded by lush plants.