WHO WILL WIN?
Sea Lion
ARK-ARK-ARK
Spinosaurus
CROCO-RAAWR
THE SETUP

Sea Lion vs Spinosaurus

Sea Lion
Sea Lion
Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus

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

Would they meet?

No. Sea Lion 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

Sea Lion

Zalophus californianus · A barking torpedo in a wet tuxedo.

Sea Lion
Home
Pacific coasts · Lives in North America
Food
Meat
Group
Lives in a big group
Size
Sea Lion is big.

Fish chaser in the surf.

Whiskers read fish in murk.

Playful and noisy.

  • Sea Lion is big and not very fast.
  • Fish, squid, and the occasional unfortunate leftover from the ocean buffet.
  • Rocky coasts and piers, where barking is a civic duty.

Family: Fur seals and walruses.

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

1.20 m

Sea Lion to scale

Sea Lion

2.8 m

Spinosaurus to scale

Spinosaurus

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

Sea Lion300 kg

As heavy as a couple of grown-ups, shaped like a barking sofa.

Spinosaurus7,000 kg

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

Sea Lion

1.20 m · 300 kg

Sea Lion is big. 300 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: Speed-bite plus flipper slap
  • Armor: Blubber wetsuit
  • Senses: Whiskers read fish in murk.

Sea Lion · 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

Sea Lion400 psi bite
Spinosaurus2000 psi bite

Sea Lion

Speed-bite plus flipper slap

Tool: speed-bite plus flipper slap. Bite: 400 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?

Sea Lion
30 km/h
Spinosaurus
18 km/h
Sea Lion30 km/h
Spinosaurus18 km/h

Sea Lion

30 km/h

Sea Lion can go 30 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 river country. Who is built for this place?

N. AmericaS. AmericaEuropeAfricaAsiaAustraliaAntarctica
Sea LionSpinosaurusBoth

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

Sea Lion

Can handle it · Lives in North America

Sea Lion's home is the pacific coasts, not river country.

Spinosaurus

This is home · Lived in Africa long ago

Spinosaurus lives in places like river country.

No. Sea Lion 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?

Sea Lion
Meat · Fish chaser in the surf.
Spinosaurus
Meat · River specialist.

Sea Lion

Meat · Fish chaser in the surf.

Fish, squid, and the occasional unfortunate leftover from the ocean buffet.

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.

Sea Lion
Lives in a big group
Spinosaurus
Lives alone
Sea Lion6 grit /10
Spinosaurus7 grit /10

Sea Lion

Lives in a big group

Playful and noisy. Grit: 6/10.

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?

Sea Lion
6/10
Spinosaurus
4/10
Sea Lion6 brains /10
Spinosaurus4 brains /10

Sea Lion

6/10

Whiskers read fish in murk.

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?

Sea Lion
Zalophus californianus
Spinosaurus
Spinosaurus aegyptiacus

Sea Lion

Zalophus californianus

Fur seals and walruses.

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?

Sea Lion
Porpoise Missile
Spinosaurus
River-Ambush Paddle

Sea Lion

Porpoise Missile

They leap, twist, and snatch fish mid-zoom.

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: Sea Lion 0 · Spinosaurus 0 · still open 8

Who wins the meeting?

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

THWACK!

THEY MEET

Sea Lion runs first. Spinosaurus does not race. They wait in river country.

Pretend · fact-based · not a gore-fest

SLAM!

THE TOOLS SHOW UP

Spinosaurus is heavier. Sea Lion uses speed-bite plus flipper slap. Nobody is keeping a gore score.

Pretend · fact-based · not a gore-fest

POW!

SPECIAL MOVES

Sea Lion tries the Porpoise Missile. 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 river country, Spinosaurus wins. Spinosaurus likes river country more. Sea Lion 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: Sea Lion 2 · Spinosaurus 6.

Your card: Sea Lion 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 · Sea Lion

Harbor barking. The champ has notes.

Sarah Stierch · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY. Source

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