Freaky Animals

The Frog Pond #29: A school bus-sized unicorn dinosaur

A recent study published Feb 19, 2026 in Science reveals a new contender for the title of real-life unicorn. Enter Spinosaurus mirabilis, a new species discovered in Niger which lived more than 95 million years ago.

Sarah L. Hawthorn

21 Feb 2026 — 8 min read

Credit: Dani Navarro

Hello lovely frogs! This edition includes a newly discovered huge dinosaur, exciting publishing updates, and some personal mush.

Unicorns are real: Or at least, one species was

Most agree that unicorns don't exist. Even narwhal, with its distinctive spiral tusk, isn't truly a unicorn as this feature is actually a protruding canine tooth¹. Elasmotherium, an extinct wooly rhino that lived until at least 39,000 years ago, has often been drawn with a single large horn, but paleobiologists are not settled on its veracity^2,3, which may instead have had a keratin pad instead of a horn.

A recent study published Feb 19, 2026 in Science reveals a new contender for the title of real-life unicorn⁴. Enter Spinosaurus mirabilis, a new species discovered in Niger which lived more than 95 million years ago⁴. If you recognize the name Spinosaurus, you may have watched Jurassic Park 3, which features the Spinosaurus fighting off a T. Rex. Spinosaurus mirabilis is a new species in the Spinosaurus family with both the distinctive body crest and something new: A horn at the top of its head⁴.

Photo credit: Keith Ladzinski / BBC Science Focus

What's big, loves fish, and has a scimitar on its head?

Spinosaurus mirabilis was a fish-eating predator as long as a school bus⁵. Its head crest was shaped like a scimitar, a very unusual shape in dinosaurs that caused confusion ever since the head was first unearthed in 2019⁵.

To truly get an idea for how huge this monstrous lizard was, check out this awesome photo that Tumblr user kaijutegu posted of her Argentine black and white tegu, Nakajuma, beside a Spinosaurus mirabilis skull:

A photo of a tegu lizard standing beside the huge skull of a Spinosaurus mirabilis. — Photo credit: https://www.tumblr.com/kaijutegu

A 3-D modelling system was used by the 20-person University of Chicago team that discovered the specimen, which helped them reassemble the skull digitally⁵.

How was this new species found?

A single sentence from the 1950s led the UoC team to the site⁶.

There was a single mention in a monograph by a French geologist about a saber-shaped fossilized tooth in Niger that resembled those of another giant predator, the Carcharodontosaurus, found in in Egypt's Western Desert at the turn of the 20th Century⁶. The team realized no one had been back to examine the site in over 70 years, so the team scoured the sands with the help of a local Tuareg guide⁶.

Where and how did Spinosaurus mirabilis live?

We're still learning a ton about these strange, ancient creatures, along with Spinosaurus in general! Their jaws and teeth were adapted to hunting fish and their fossils have chiefly been found around ancient coastlines⁵. But we don't know how aquatic they were. Did they swim like crocodiles? Or were they merely river dabblers?

Spinosaurus mirabilis (literally "astonishing Spinosaurus"⁵) were found far from any shorelines. The discovering team believe this to mean the area may have been forested with river systems⁵.

The "heron from hell"

Paul Sereno, lead professor of the team, told the BBC that he saw Spinosaurus mirabilis as a "hell heron" that used its sturdy 2 metres tall legs to wade through water, stalking the shallows for fish⁵.

Spinosaurus has a distinct skull design that evolved 3 times throughout the Jurassic, Early Cretaceous, and Late Cretaceous to create an animal with maximum body size and specialized shallow water ambush precision⁴.

My favourite paleontologist, Steve Brusatte, is also quoted by BBC about this new finding! He echoes how cool of a find the fossil is, and how such a mysterious dinosaur like Spinosaurus can slowly come into focus with each new fossil⁵. I highly recommend Brusatte's book, The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs, which I read last year! He's a great storyteller with a fresh perspective on both dinosaurs and mammals.

What happened to the Spinosaurus?

According to the geological and fossil record, there was an abrupt sea level rise about 95 million years ago during the end of the Cenomanian period⁵. This caused wide-spread climate change that the Spinosaurus couldn't survive⁵.

If you're in the Chicago area in March, you can check out these amazing fossil finds for yourself at the Chicago Children's Museum!

Anyone that knows me knows I'm a pretty huge dinosaur nerd, ever since 5-year-old me watched (and re-watched so many times I wore the VHS tape out) the BBC documentary Walking With Dinosaurs. Seeing the field flourishing with new discoveries even today and constantly pushing back on old expectations of the paleontological world is such a treat.

A word from a passing frog

Strap in, there's a lot going on!

Publishing

A few exciting updates! First: I've signed a deal with Audible to produce the audiobook for A FATE WORSE THAN DROWNING! It was a whirlwind 5-way auction (!!!) and though early days in terms of production, I've already given my choices for audiobook readers (YES, MULTIPLE, MY DREAM SINCE DRAFTING). More information to come!

Second: I'm going to the American Booksellers Association's Winter Institute in Pittsburgh next week! This is the biggest American conference for booksellers and a handful of authors from each participating publication are invited to attend. I'm so excited to hear the keynote speakers, get to know the booksellers, meet some of my publishing team in real life for the first time, and enjoy the VIP experience of being an author at an event like this. I'm deeply honoured and thankful to my publisher for choosing me. It's a big sign of support and long-term interest in my career that I don't take lightly. More information to come after the conference!

I've also received amazing blurbs for A FATE WORSE THAN DROWNING that I've seen start to trickle out on social media by my publisher, and which will be all over the final full cover of the book. I am so, so grateful to the talented and generous authors who took the time out of their busy lives to read my book and say such wonderful things! Honestly, it's making it easier to talk about the book myself now haha.

Writing

I passed in my final, final, FINAL edits to A FATE WORSE THAN DROWNING! This is the last time I'm touching this book that has consumed me for the last few years. When has there been an update on TFP that doesn't involve "lighthouse book"?? It's a bit bittersweet that it's properly out of my hands now, but also a big relief. I did the best I could do--now it's all over but the crying!

I've had a real creative block for a number of reasons as I prepare to move on to my next book. Nothing felt good enough, the pressure to make something "worth" my publishing team's time felt immense (even though entirely self-inflicted), and a mixture of stresses bled into each other to make me dread trying to write. It's super normal for debut authors to have this experience. If you're running into similar problems, I highly recommend the Isabel Sterling podcast episode "Surviving the Book 2 blues". I processed a lot of thoughts through listening to this, and listening to the advice of my wonderful agent after I sent a "oh my god I've forgotten how to write, help!" email.

Reading

I enjoyed a few books lately!

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: I picked this sci-fi bestseller to get back into reading physical books after a long stint with only audiobooks. While The Martian is still my favourite Weir book as I think it got the tension of "problem -> solution -> new problem because of the last solution" perfectly, this had a lot of fun elements in both the speculative science and the cross-species communication.

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami: I don't know what had me so desperate to read this 90s classic of dystopian fiction once the new year turned, but man did it grab me! The worldbuilding had such an interesting lore that was very well-fed throughout the story. Despite having a pretty huge cast of about 60 characters, each one felt distinct. I'm excited to watch the movie!

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm: If you're into internet horror and sci-fi, especially stuff like SCP or The Magnus Archives, or video games like Control, I highly recommend this book! Originally an online serial on the SCP site, this book was re-published last year and features high-concept, high-stakes entities that will have you equally scratching your head and searching for the next clue to unravel the entire story.

Imperfect Creatures by Joe Butler: Imperfect Creatures is a masterclass in the kind of horror that plays with your expectations of what a book is supposed to be. Butler uses prose, poetry, shapes, and even academic rigor to form a story that has a heart burning with complex grief. The easy comparison is House of Leaves, but there's also a very personal story within the well-executed puzzle that gripped me. Clare's journey into the maw of her hometown and childhood home with its many iterations is can't-put-down stuff. There's a reason I always tell people to read Joe's books, and not just because we're critique partners!

I'm currently half-way through the non-fiction audiobook The Rise and Reign of the Mammals. I've got a lot of physical books by my bed to get to as well.

Life

One would think, given all the above, that my brain is hunky-dory right now! Alas, it has very limited hunk and nearly no dory.

I've had worsening anxiety and depression for the last few months. Honestly, it hasn't been this bad in a very long time. Much of that has been directly related to my day-job, some to the general state of the world, some connected to my physical health, and some to other stuff I won't get into here. I'm putting a lot of my energy into getting better, including working with a great psychologist and taking some time away from work. This has meant reaching out for help in ways I've never felt comfortable doing before, but so far I'm finding a lot more compassion than judgement. I don't know how long it will take until I'm better, but I have more hope for getting better than I did even just a week ago.

Usually this is where one would say "check on your [friend/relative/colleague]". What about you? What do you owe yourself? Who can you lean on?

Take care of yourself <3