Scientists have discovered a huge, carnivorous dinosaur that apparently swam and feasted on fish and sharks.

According to BBC News, the Spinosaurus is the largest known carnivorous dinosaur and was also the first known one of its kind that could swim. The remains, discovered in the Sahara Desert, were 95 million years old.

The researchers' work is published in the journal Science.

"It is a really bizarre dinosaur - there's no real blueprint for it," study lead author Nizar Ibrahim, a palaeontologist from the University of Chicago, told BBC News. "It has a long neck, a long trunk, a long tail, a 7ft (2m) sail on its back and a snout like a crocodile.

"And when we look at the body proportions, the animal was clearly not as agile on land as other dinosaurs were, so I think it spent a substantial amount of time in the water."

With a head like a crocodile, Spinosaurus had nostrils on the top of its head, allowing for easy submersion. The dinosaur also had flat feet that acted as paddles, propelling it through the water.

Spinosaurus aegyptiacus was first discovered some 100 years ago in Egypt and those remains are in a museum in Munich, Germany. At 50 feet long, NBC News reported, the Spinosaurus was larger than even the Tyrannosaurus rex, appearing in "Jurrasic Park 3" and beating the latter in the film.

Despite its dominance in that scene, not much is really known of the Spinosaurus, which of course differs from the T rex.

"The one thing we noticed was that the proportions were really bizarre. The hind limbs were shorter than in other predatory dinosaurs, the foot claws were quite wide and the feet almost paddle shaped," Ibrahim told BBC News. "We thought: 'Wow - this looks looks like adaptations for a life mainly spent in water.'

"And then we noticed other things. The snout is very similar to that of fish-eating crocodiles, with interlocking cone-shaped teeth."