Nigersaurus had a remarkable dental battery consisting of about five hundred narrow, closely packed teeth, arranged in rows along its vast, flat jaw.
Considering that a number of rebbachisaurids inhabited latitudes that might are tropical to subtropical in the Middle Cretaceous, this pneumaticity could have helped the animals cope Using the quite higher temperatures. As outlined by Ibiricu and colleagues, this adaptation could be a purpose why rebbachisaurids ended up the only group of diplodocoids that survived into your Late Cretaceous.[21]
Named once the place of Niger, exactly where its fossils ended up initially observed. The title was picked to reflect its origins, however, the similarity in pronunciation to some racial slur has lifted problems about cultural sensitivity and acceptable terminology.
Although Taquet initially explained the dinosaur’s remains during the 1970s, the official classification and naming have been conducted a long time afterwards by Sereno, emphasizing the collaborative character of its analyze and discovery.
The Nigersaurus is an interesting and distinctive dinosaur which includes captured prevalent notice, partly as a consequence of its abnormal capabilities and intriguing nickname given that the "dinosaur with five hundred teeth."
This sauropod (long-necked dinosaur) has an unconventional skull containing as several as 500 slender teeth. An important purpose of this expedition is to discover the remainder of this unconventional dinosaur so we will describe it and reconstruct it for everyone to see.
The swift substitution of its teeth, each individual 14 days, suggests the Nigersaurus confronted substantial evolutionary pressures to keep up a constant supply of purposeful teeth to manage with abrasive plant product. This adaptation underlines the evolutionary very important to improve feeding performance within an ecosystem where by foodstuff resources assorted and Opposition was fierce.
[thirteen] As a result of lateral orientation with the teeth, it probably would not have already been in the position to chew.[1] Nigersaurus wore its tooth crowns down more rapidly than other dinosaurian herbivores,[3] and its tooth replacement level was the what dinosaur has 500 teeth highest of any recognised dinosaur. Each tooth was replaced once every 14 times; the rate experienced Formerly been approximated lessen. In contrast to Nigersaurus, sauropods with decrease tooth alternative premiums and broader tooth crowns are imagined to are already canopy browsers.[twelve]
A 2015 cladistic review by Wilsona as well as the French palaeontologist Ronan Allain found Rebbachisaurus itself to group with the nigersaurines, as well as authors recommended that Nigersaurinae was for that reason a junior synonym of Rebbachisaurinae (given that that name would've priority).
Probably the most exclusive capabilities of Nigersaurus was its mouth, which was Geared up with a huge selection of smaller, tightly packed teeth arranged in rows. This permitted it to successfully crop and grind hard plant issue, which include ferns and horsetails.
The wide muzzle of Nigersaurus was probable an adaptation to its lower-lying herbivorous diet plan, allowing for it to simply scoop up and gather plant substance from the bottom.
Having like which can be rough with your dental health and fitness Until you've got a syteady offer of substitute teeth. Nigersaurus must have worn out its tooth crowns in a immediate-fire rate.
The dinosaur's vertebrae was full of air pockets comparable to Individuals of birds, Therefore the dinosaur was likely pretty mild, too. Its Mind was about the measurement of a walnut, which is more or less common for sauropods, Sereno says.
This intriguing variation showcases the varied procedures dinosaurs produced to prosper in their environments. The Nigersaurus’s immediate tooth alternative, developing every single fourteen days, can be remarkable, environment it besides other sauropods that experienced slower tooth turnover.