was most likely a browser, and fed with its head close to the bottom. The location of its Mind that detected odor was underdeveloped, although its Mind measurement was comparable to that of other dinosaurs. There was debate on no matter if its head was habitually held downwards, or horizontally like other sauropods.
The area that Nigersaurus roamed all People countless several years back might have already been idyllic in specific approaches, nonetheless it wasn't with no its several sizeable dangers.
in 1999, soon after even further and a lot more full remains ended up identified and described. The genus identify signifies "Niger reptile", and the specific identify honours the French palaeontologist Philippe Taquet, who uncovered the main continues to be.
Other scientists have disputed this declare, while. Experiments introduced in 2009 and 2013 observed which the place in the LSC won't be able to reliably tell us what any offered sauropod's normal head posture seemed like. An individual requires to build a time machine already.
Nigersaurus is a crucial discovery for paleontologists as it really helps to shed mild about the evolution and variety of sauropods during the mid-Cretaceous time period.
Everyday living restoration Nigersaurus was distinctive in that its dorsal (back again) vertebrae experienced paired pneumatic Areas at The bottom of your neural spines (the spines that projected upwards with the vertebrae). The presacral vertebrae (vertebrae in front of the sacrum) have been seriously pneumatised to the point exactly where the column consisted of a number of hollow "shells", Every divided by a thin septum in the center. It had tiny to no cancellous bone, creating the centra thin bone plates crammed with air Areas. The vertebral arches have been so seriously pierced by extensions from the exterior air sacs that of their side partitions tiny remained but 2 mm (0.
Although Taquet in the beginning described the dinosaur’s stays while in the nineteen seventies, the official classification and naming were being done decades later by Sereno, emphasizing the collaborative character of its examine and discovery.
The Nigersaurus was a ground-amount browser. Its huge muzzle, combined with its numerous teeth, allowed it to absorb big amounts of vegetation in only one Chunk. The orientation of its teeth, all positioned for the front of its jaws, enabled it to efficiently crop and Collect food items near to the ground.
Nigersaurus also bears signs of very low-angle tooth-to-tooth have on on the inside from the maxillary crowns, which suggests that jaw motion was restricted to precise up-and-down motions. Worn teeth from the reduced jaw have not nevertheless been found out, but They're predicted to indicate opposing tooth-to-tooth don. A chance to elevate their heads well over the bottom isn't going to necessarily necessarily mean they browsed on goods there, along with the shorter neck of Nigersaurus would have limited the searching variety as compared to other diplodocoids.[3]
Nigersaurus also bears indications of lower-angle tooth-to-tooth wear on The within from the maxillary crowns, which implies that jaw motion was restricted to specific up-and-down motions. Worn teeth with the reduced jaw have not but been found out, but They are really envisioned to show opposing tooth-to-tooth don. The opportunity to raise their heads very well earlier mentioned the bottom doesn't automatically imply they browsed on merchandise there, plus the short neck of Nigersaurus might have limited the searching vary when compared to other diplodocoids.[3]
The Nigersaurus is a fascinating and one of a kind dinosaur which has captured popular interest, partly as a consequence of its uncommon functions and intriguing nickname as the "dinosaur with five hundred teeth."
It lived in a very riparian habitat, and its diet possibly consisted of soft plants, for instance ferns, horsetails, and angiosperms. It is actually Just about the most common fossil vertebrates identified in the region, and shared its habitat with other dinosaurian megaherbivores, and big theropods and crocodylomorphs.
And what a skeleton it had been! The newfound fossils gave us our initial think about the dino's sophisticated dental batteries and vacuum cleaner mouth. Sereno named the species Nigersaurus taqueti — being an homage to French paleontologist Philippe Taquet — in 1999.
It experienced a short neck for a sauropod, with thirteen cervical vertebrae. Almost all rebbachisaurids had 500 teeth dinosaur reasonably small necks in addition to a duration of ten m (33 ft) or considerably less. The one member with the spouse and children that arrived at the scale of much larger sauropods was