WHO WILL WIN?
Meerkat
CHK-CHK-ALARM
Spinosaurus
CROCO-RAAWR
THE SETUP

Meerkat vs Spinosaurus

Meerkat
Meerkat
Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus

Pretend they meet in grassland. Dinosaurs lived long ago. Look at the facts. Then you pick.

Would they meet?

No. Meerkat and Spinosaurus did not live at the same time. This meeting is pretend.

This is pretend and based on facts. Real animals usually hide or leave.

Read the facts. Make your card. The page waits to pick.

Corner A

Meerkat

Suricata suricatta · The smallest fighter with the biggest sentry energy.

Meerkat
Home
African desert and scrub · Lives in Africa
Food
Plants and meat
Group
Lives in a big group
Size
Meerkat is tiny.

Bug and scorpion specialist.

Dark-eye rings cut glare.

Brave in a mob, tiny in a 1-v-1.

  • Meerkat is tiny and not very fast.
  • Insects, scorpions, eggs, and the occasional lizard.
  • They live in underground burrow cities with many exits.

Family: Mongooses.

Corner B

Spinosaurus

Spinosaurus aegyptiacus · A sail-backed river hunter longer than a bus.

Spinosaurus
Home
Mid-Cretaceous rivers of North Africa · Lived in Africa long ago
Food
Meat
Group
Lives alone
Size
Spinosaurus is giant.

River specialist.

A snout that may have sensed pressure in water, like a crocodile's face.

Boss of a Cretaceous river.

  • Spinosaurus is giant and not very fast.
  • Giant fish, and probably other animals that came to drink.
  • Cretaceous North Africa, about 95 million years ago — rivers and mangrove-ish coasts, not the Serengeti.

Family: Other spinosaurids like Baryonyx and Suchomimus.

TO SCALE!

SIZE & WEIGHT

Stand them next to a grown-up. Who is bigger and heavier?

1.70 m

Grown-up

0.30 m

Meerkat to scale

Meerkat

2.8 m

Spinosaurus to scale

Spinosaurus

Height to scale. A grown-up is 1.7 m.

Meerkat0.8 kg

About as heavy as a loaf of bread that learned karate.

Spinosaurus7,000 kg

Longer than T. rex, maybe as long as a city bus, with a sail that could top a doorway.

Meerkat

0.30 m · 0.8 kg

Meerkat is tiny. 0.8 kg.

Spinosaurus

2.8 m · 7,000 kg

Spinosaurus is giant. 7,000 kg.

Kilograms are honest. A small animal can still have a strong tool.

Who would you pick for size?

TOOLKIT!

TOOLS

Teeth, claws, horns, venom, kick — what tools do they have?

  • Weapon: Needle claws
  • Armor: Absolutely none
  • Senses: Dark-eye rings cut glare.

Meerkat · labeled field diagram

  • Weapon: Croc-snout plus canoe claws
  • Armor: Sail and dense bones
  • Senses: A snout that may have sensed pressure in water, like a crocodile's face.

Spinosaurus · labeled field diagram

Meerkat50 psi bite
Spinosaurus2000 psi bite

Meerkat

Needle claws

Tool: needle claws. Bite: 50 psi.

Spinosaurus

Croc-snout plus canoe claws

Tool: croc-snout plus canoe claws. Bite: 2,000 psi.

A bite number is only one tool. Coils and kicks count too.

Whose tools would you trust?

ZOOM!

SPEED

Who gets there first?

Meerkat
32 km/h
Spinosaurus
18 km/h
Meerkat32 km/h
Spinosaurus18 km/h

Meerkat

32 km/h

Meerkat can go 32 km/h. That is not very fast.

Spinosaurus

18 km/h

Spinosaurus can go 18 km/h. That is not very fast.

A fast animal can miss. A slow one only has to connect.

Who takes the speed card?

HOME MAP!

HOME

They meet in grassland. Who is built for this place?

N. AmericaS. AmericaEuropeAfricaAsiaAustraliaAntarctica
MeerkatSpinosaurusBoth

Meeting biome: grassland. Colored land is fossil range for dinosaurs and living range for zoo animals.

Meerkat

This is home · Lives in Africa

Meerkat lives in places like grassland.

Spinosaurus

Not their home · Lived in Africa long ago

Spinosaurus's home is the mid-cretaceous rivers of north africa, not grassland.

No. Meerkat and Spinosaurus did not live at the same time. This meeting is pretend.

Who gets the home point?

MENU!

FOOD

How do they get lunch?

Meerkat
Plants and meat · Bug and scorpion specialist.
Spinosaurus
Meat · River specialist.

Meerkat

Plants and meat · Bug and scorpion specialist.

Insects, scorpions, eggs, and the occasional lizard.

Spinosaurus

Meat · River specialist.

Giant fish, and probably other animals that came to drink.

A plant eater is not 'safe.' Hippos and elephants still end arguments.

Whose hunting or defending helps more?

MOOD!

MOOD

Alone vs team. This rumble is one vs one.

Meerkat
Lives in a big group
Spinosaurus
Lives alone
Meerkat10 grit /10
Spinosaurus7 grit /10

Meerkat

Lives in a big group

Brave in a mob, tiny in a 1-v-1. Grit: 10/10.

Spinosaurus

Lives alone

Boss of a Cretaceous river. Grit: 7/10.

Pack and pride animals lose their backup in a 1-v-1.

Who is better for a solo meeting?

PING!

BRAINS

Who notices first and thinks next?

Meerkat
7/10
Spinosaurus
4/10
Meerkat7 brains /10
Spinosaurus4 brains /10

Meerkat

7/10

Dark-eye rings cut glare.

Spinosaurus

4/10

A snout that may have sensed pressure in water, like a crocodile's face.

In the wild, brains often mean leave before it starts.

Who would you score for noticing?

COUSINS!

FAMILY

Who are they related to?

Meerkat
Suricata suricatta
Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus

Meerkat

Suricata suricatta

Mongooses.

Spinosaurus

Spinosaurus aegyptiacus

Other spinosaurids like Baryonyx and Suchomimus.

Cousins are clues, not a score.

Not a fight point. Who has the wilder family story?

WILD CARD!

SPECIAL

What special move did they evolve?

Meerkat
Sentry Siren
Spinosaurus
River-Ambush Paddle

Meerkat

Sentry Siren

One meerkat stands watch while the rest forage.

Spinosaurus

River-Ambush Paddle

Spinosaurus was built to hunt in rivers.

A secret move here is a real wild tool, not a video-game combo.

Whose special move would change the meeting?

YOUR SCORECARD

Your scorecard

Tap who has each fact. Then tap who you think wins.

  • SIZE & WEIGHT

  • TOOLS

  • SPEED

  • HOME

  • FOOD

  • MOOD

  • BRAINS

  • SPECIAL

Your card: Meerkat 0 · Spinosaurus 0 · still open 8

Who wins the meeting?

Keep going for the pretend meeting, then the science pick.

FWOOSH!

THEY MEET

Meerkat runs first. Spinosaurus does not race. They wait in grassland.

Pretend · fact-based · not a gore-fest

KICK!

THE TOOLS SHOW UP

Spinosaurus is heavier. Meerkat uses needle claws. Nobody is keeping a gore score.

Pretend · fact-based · not a gore-fest

STOOMP!

SPECIAL MOVES

Meerkat tries the Sentry Siren. Spinosaurus tries the River-Ambush Paddle. Keep your card. The last page is next.

Pretend · fact-based · not a gore-fest

THE SCIENCE PICK

Spinosaurus!

A STOMP

You skipped a final pick. The facts still stamp a champ.

On grassland, Spinosaurus wins. Spinosaurus is a lot heavier. Meerkat would still win some meetings at home.

In the wild, most animals skip a fight. We still judge who the bodies and the place would favor.

Science card: Meerkat 4 · Spinosaurus 4.

Your card: Meerkat 0 · Spinosaurus 0.

The last page follows the whole animal — body plus home — not one bar chart.

Send this fight

A friend can read the same facts.

Also starring · Meerkat

Family meeting. Someone is always on lookout.

Boksi · Wilhelma Zoo · Wikimedia Commons · CC. Source

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