Limb substance along with a scapula found close by had been also referred to a similar specimen. These fossils are housed with the National Museum of Niger.
As we carry on to study this intriguing creature, we're reminded in the intricate and varied paths that evolution normally takes.
First discoveries of Nigersaurus fossils date back again to the 1960s, nevertheless it was not till the seventies that extra full continues to be had been uncovered. These stays were being formally studied and described by paleontologist Paul Sereno and his group in 1999.
Though it had substantial nostrils in addition to a fleshy snout, Sereno and colleagues found that Nigersaurus had an underdeveloped olfactory region of its brain and therefore did not have a complicated perception of odor. Its Mind-to-physique-mass ratio was normal for a reptile, and more compact than those of ornithischians and non-coelurosaurian theropods. The cerebrum comprised about 30% on the Mind quantity, as in all kinds of other dinosaurs.[3] The American palaeoartist Mark Hallett and paleontologist Mathew J.
The dental composition of Nigersaurus offers priceless insights into your dietary and ecological adaptations of sauropods. Its distinctive dental arrangement and quick tooth alternative system emphasize the diverse evolutionary approaches that dinosaurs used to thrive of their environments.
This strange, prolonged-necked dinosaur is characterized by its unusually wide, straight-edged muzzle tipped with much more than five hundred replaceable teeth. The original fossil cranium of Nigersaurus is probably the initial dinosaur skulls to generally be digitally reconstructed from CT scans.
A lot of Nigersaurus specimens collected by French and American expeditions stay to become explained.[9] Teeth comparable to All those of Nigersaurus are already found within the Isle of Wight and in Brazil, however it is unknown whether or not they belonged to family members of this taxon, or to titanosaurs, whose continues to be have already been located in the vicinity.
The Nigersaurus was a ground-level browser. Its large muzzle, coupled with its quite a few teeth, permitted it to absorb big amounts of vegetation in just one bite. The orientation of its teeth, all positioned at the entrance of its jaws, enabled it to proficiently crop and Acquire food near the bottom.
Nigersaurus also bears signs of lower-angle tooth-to-tooth have on on The within in the maxillary crowns, which indicates that jaw motion was restricted to precise up-and-down motions. Worn teeth from your decrease jaw haven't nonetheless been discovered, but They what dinosaur has 500 teeth may be predicted to point out opposing tooth-to-tooth put on. A chance to raise their heads effectively earlier mentioned the bottom does not necessarily suggest they browsed on things there, plus the shorter neck of Nigersaurus would have restricted the browsing assortment as compared to other diplodocoids.[three]
” Our 1st 7 days in the sector has actually been impressive! Extraordinary discoveries appear to be watching for us around each dune. On our initial day, we discovered bones from the extended-necked dinosaur Nigersaurus. Nigersaurus, you may keep in mind, we named for bones collected on the final expedition below a few yrs in the past.
In 2020, the French palaeontologist Julien Benoit and colleagues examined lateral semicircular canal correlation to head posture on modern day mammals, and found that although there was considerable correlation among the reconstructed and true head postures, the plane from the semicircular canal was not held horizontally in the resting pose as inferred.
The Nigersaurus, with its staggering 500 teeth, presents a captivating distinction to its dinosaur family members, Primarily other sauropods. Not like its cousins with less, thicker teeth, the Nigersaurus’s slender, pencil-like teeth were being uniquely tailored for snipping soft vegetation, a stark distinction in the strong teeth of sauropods like Brachiosaurus, which have been likely built to manage more durable vegetation.
We cautiously brushed the sand off the a hundred and ten million-calendar year-outdated bones and dug channels concerning the major parts of the skeleton. Before long We are going to protect Every single location in plaster so that the skeleton can be transported outside of the sector and back again to your laboratory.
In conclusion, Nigersaurus was a novel and intriguing dinosaur that lived during the Late Cretaceous period of time in what is currently Niger. Its rows of very small teeth and specialised jaw structure designed it nicely-suited for searching on minimal-lying vegetation, and its fossils function a worthwhile source of information regarding the diversity of everyday living that existed on the planet millions of yrs ago.