That wide muzzle with its Nigersaurus teeth was great for scooping up ferns, horsetails along with other reduced-lying vegetation. And with the bountiful teeth, the dinosaur would've had no hassle shearing through this vegetation.
are grouped throughout the subfamily Nigersaurinae in the relatives Rebbachisauridae, which happens to be A part of the sauropod superfamily Diplodocoidea. Nigersaurus
Nigersaurus had over five hundred teeth arranged in dental batteries (rows of teeth stacked upon other rows of teeth), which permitted it to proficiently graze on reduced-lying vegetation like ferns and horsetails. Worn teeth had been frequently replaced to maintain Niversaurus' powerful feeding.
As compared, Nigersaurus was within the compact side. What caught Everybody's consideration was the dinosaur's mug.
Skeletal diagram displaying regarded components and dimensions comparison Sereno and also the American palaeontologist Jeffrey A. Wilson supplied the primary in-depth description of your skull and feeding adaptations in 2005.[1] In 2007, a more specific description of your skeleton was printed by Sereno advertisement colleagues, determined by a specimen learned ten many years previously. The fossils, along with a reconstructed skeleton mount as well as a plastic product of The pinnacle and neck, were subsequently presented for the National Geographic Society in Washington.
lived in what is currently Niger about 115 to 105 million a long time in the past, in the Aptian and Albian ages of the mid-Cretaceous. It most likely lived in habitats dominated by inland floodplains (a riparian zone).
French paleontologists found the first fossils of Nigersaurus during the Nigerian Sahara in the fifties. Nevertheless, given that most of the bones had been either isolated or incomplete (due to their fragility), it was difficult to recognize the species.
Nigersaurus experienced a jaw construction in contrast to every other dinosaur. Its wide, squared-off muzzle housed more than 500 slender, pencil-like teeth. These teeth weren't evenly dispersed but have been arranged in columns and rows, with as many as 9 alternative teeth powering Every active tooth.
Putting together these odd anatomical facts, Nigersaurus appears to have already been perfectly tailored to lower searching; probably it swept its neck backwards and forwards parallel to the ground, hoovering up any vegetation in uncomplicated arrive at. (Other sauropods, which experienced much longer necks, may have nibbled around the substantial branches of trees, nevertheless even this continues to be a make any difference of some dispute.)
When the primary fossils of Nigersaurus ended up uncovered in 1976, paleontologists couldn’t acknowledge them as a new species. It is because the skeleton fossils were being very hollow and distorted.
Teeth at different progress stages, Museo di Storia Naturale di Venezia The slender teeth had a little bit curved tooth crowns, which ended up oval in cross-section. The crowns were distinctive in possessing outstanding ridges within the margins in their midline Nigersaurus and sides. The teeth while in the decreased jaw could happen to be twenty–30% lesser than These during the upper jaw, but couple are identified, and they are of uncertain maturity. Apart from this, the teeth were identical.[four] Less than Just about every Lively tooth there was a column of 9 substitute teeth throughout the jaw.
The quick tooth substitute suggests that it generally fed on tender, abrasive crops, which might dress in down its teeth quickly.
The dinosaur's vertebrae was crammed with air pockets similar to People of birds, so the dinosaur was very likely fairly gentle, also. Its Mind was with regard to the measurement of a walnut, which can be kind of typical for sauropods, Sereno suggests.
Its small neck might have also been an adaptation to this floor-level feeding conduct, because it wouldn't are actually in a position to achieve significant into trees like A few other sauropods.