That broad muzzle with its Nigersaurus teeth was ideal for scooping up ferns, horsetails and other lower-lying plants. And With all the bountiful teeth, the dinosaur would've experienced no problems shearing by this vegetation.
Wafer-thin fossils with skinny bone plates aren't the simplest points to maintain and study. But dag nabit, anyone's gotta do it!
Judging via the LSC orientation in Nigersaurus, Sereno and corporation hypothesized the animal usually walked close to with its snout pointed to the ground in a 67-diploma angle. Image a moping teen and you'll get The reasoning.
The Nigersaurus roamed the lush landscapes of the middle Cretaceous time period, in what is currently the Sahara Desert of Niger. This location, after teeming with life, supplied a abundant tapestry of soppy, leafy vegetation which was ideal for the Nigersaurus’s specialized diet program.
Nigersaurus and its closest kin are grouped within the subfamily Rebbachisaurinae (previously considered grouped within the eponymous Nigersaurinae) with the family members Rebbachisauridae, and that is A part of the sauropod superfamily Diplodocoidea. Nigersaurus was in all probability a browser, and fed with its head near the ground. The area of its Mind that detected smell was underdeveloped, Despite the fact that its brain sizing was akin to that of other dinosaurs.
Regretably, this has triggered misunderstandings and occasional misuse in online discussions. Even though the eye has sparked curiosity concerning the dinosaur, In addition it underscores the importance of cultural sensitivity and precise communication when discussing scientific discoveries.
As we’ve noticed, Nigersaurus experienced a broad muzzle and various teeth properly fitted to consuming minimal-lying plants. This diet and Life style might have expected the creature to possess a steady source of substitute teeth, because it would have worn out its tooth crowns fast. A analyze released in the journal PLOS A person
Hans is working with a crew of Allison and Dave to excavate a whole new web page. As we dug across the 500 teeth dinosaur cranium, we uncovered Yet another juvenile cranium of the same species lying proper close to the big just one.
Nigersaurus's downward-experiencing mouth and extensive dental arrangement propose it grazed on ground-stage vegetation as opposed to browsing high vegetation.
The authors therefore cautioned versus working with semicircular canals as proxy to infer the precise orientation of skulls. They found that diet regime correlated strongly with semicircular canal orientation, but not with head posture, while head posture and semicircular canal orientation were being strongly correlated with phylogeny.[twenty five]
But that’s not all for Nigersaurus. Chris took us all into a flat spot of purple-colored sandstone where he had Found the higher jaw of the little one Nigersaurus—one particular that may in good shape along with a silver dollar!
Nigersaurus (/niːˈʒɛərsɔːrəs, ˈnaɪdʒərsɔːrəs/) is often a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived throughout the middle Cretaceous period of time, about a hundred and fifteen to 105 million a long time back. It absolutely was found while in the Elrhaz Development in a region known as Gadoufaoua, in Niger.
The lizard from Niger was a relatively tiny sauropod, measuring about nine meters (30 feet) in length and weighing about four tons. It experienced a protracted neck and tail, with a short, narrow snout that was tailored for searching on minimal-lying vegetation.
In conclusion, Nigersaurus was a novel and intriguing dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous time period in what has become Niger. Its rows of small teeth and specialized jaw composition built it very well-suited for searching on reduced-lying vegetation, and its fossils function a important supply of details about the variety of existence that existed on Earth countless years back.