" This stems from the misinterpretation of its identify, which is derived in the place of Niger, not a derogatory time period.
Nigersaurus (/niːˈʒɛərsɔːrəs, ˈnaɪdʒərsɔːrəs/) is really a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived during the center Cretaceous period, about a hundred and fifteen to one zero five million yrs in the past. It had been learned during the Elrhaz Formation in a place known as Gadoufaoua, in Niger.
A 2023 study by the French palaeontologist Rémi Lefebvre and colleagues examined the microanatomical structure from the limb bones of Nigersaurus by means of CT-scans, the first these types of research of the sauropod. Virtual sections with the limb bones sampled from people of different dimensions have been explored to determine the number of variation. Weighty-excess weight bearing animals often have capabilities connected with this ailment, impacting the interior construction with the limb bones, though the variation involving this kind of bones is inadequately known.
But that’s not all for Nigersaurus. Chris took us all to the flat place of purple-coloured sandstone exactly where he had Found the upper jaw of a baby Nigersaurus—one particular that might healthy in addition to a silver dollar!
What dinosaur has five hundred teeth? An unorthodox herbivore, this reptile grazed in what's now the Sahara Desert a hundred and ten million a long time back. These sauropod dinosaurs collected food stuff with a major, broad mouth; the snout was wider compared to the back with the creature's head on the first fossil cranium.
lived in what has become Niger about one hundred fifteen to 105 million several years back, in the course of the Aptian and Albian ages of the mid-Cretaceous. It probable lived in habitats dominated by inland floodplains (a riparian zone).
Having said that, this claim has become contested by other scientists who believe that Nigersaurus was likely more common of other sauropods.
A different genus and species of toothless noasaurid ceratosaur has become determined from an extremely finish skeleton located in...
In 2019, Mannion and colleagues identified that considering the fact that Nigersaurus was located to generally be the sister taxon of all other nigersaurines in a few experiments, a Rebbachisaurinae clade may well not essentially contain Nigersaurus alone (along with the incontrovertible fact that the placement of Rebbachisaurus could improve in potential analyses), and supported the continued use of the title Nigersaurinae around Rebbachisaurinae for all rebbachisaurids a lot more carefully related to Nigersaurus than to Limaysaurus.
And what a skeleton it absolutely was! The newfound fossils gave us our first look at the dino's difficult dental batteries and vacuum cleaner mouth. Sereno named the species Nigersaurus taqueti — as an homage to French paleontologist Philippe Taquet — in 1999.
But that’s not all for Nigersaurus. Chris took us all to the flat spot of purple-colored sandstone wherever he had Positioned the upper jaw of a little one Nigersaurus—1 that could healthy on top of a silver greenback!
The snout was also proportionately shorter, as well as the tooth row was in no way prognathous, the snout suggestion not protruding relative to the rest with the tooth collection.[one] Nigersaurus was distinctive in that its frontal bone (which formed Significantly on 500 teeth dinosaur the skull-roof) was elongate (Substantially narrower than very long), and experienced a marked cerebral fossa (a melancholy over the surface of this bone inside the head).[four] The maxillary tooth row was in its entirety transversely rotated, its ordinary rear ninety° everted towards the entrance. This was matched by an identical rotation of the dentary in the decrease jaw. This transverse orientation on the upper and decrease tooth rows was exclusive on the dinosaur. As a result of this configuration, no other tetrapod experienced all of its teeth located as considerably to your entrance as Nigersaurus.[three][4]
Dental batteries are a novel adaptation present in some plant-eating dinosaurs that allowed them to efficiently procedure tough vegetation. These batteries consist of vertically stacked columns of teeth, with the best tooth in Each and every column staying replaced since it wears out.
In 2017, the Argentinian palaeontologist Lucio M. Ibiricu and colleagues examined the postcranial skeletal pneumaticity within the skeletons of rebbachisaurids, and suggested that it absolutely was an adaptation for reducing the density from the skeleton, and this might have lessened the muscle mass energy required to transfer the body, and also the warmth generated in the procedure.