He discovered numerous fossils from Elrhaz formations in Niger. Amongst These fossils, he identified fossils of a whole new dinosaur species that is referred to as Nigersaurus (“Niger Reptile”). He coupled with other paleontologists collected numerous bony elements of Nigersaurus individually and assembled a tough skeleton.
Wafer-thin fossils with thin bone plates are not the best things to preserve and examine. But dag nabit, anyone's gotta do it!
We've been closing in on that goal speedy simply because we came upon a skeleton a few days later! This skeleton is lying on its side Along with the tail curved upward. The curve with the backbone steps about 15 ft.
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Nigersaurus is a vital discovery for paleontologists mainly because it helps to drop gentle on the evolution and diversity of sauropods throughout the mid-Cretaceous time period.
There was debate on no matter whether its head was habitually held downwards, or horizontally like other sauropods. It lived inside a riparian habitat, and its food plan likely consisted of sentimental vegetation, like ferns, horsetails, and angiosperms. It is The most widespread fossil vertebrates observed in the area, and shared its habitat with other dinosaurian megaherbivores, along with massive theropods and crocodylomorphs.
Dependant on this biomechanical Examination, the group concluded that The pinnacle and muzzle ended up habitually oriented 67° downwards and close to floor amount, as an adaptation for ground-amount browsing. This is certainly compared with how other sauropods have already been restored, with their heads held far more horizontally.[3]
These jaws held something by no means ahead of observed in a very sauropod dinosaur: It had been one of the initial dinosaur skulls with tooth, or "dental," batteries.
Nigersaurus's downward-going through mouth and broad dental arrangement advise it grazed on floor-amount crops rather than searching superior vegetation.
Better still, Those people tooth columns ended up packed ideal alongside one another—like canned sardines. So a dinosaur armed with dental batteries could easily home several hundred teeth (outdated and new) within its mouth.
In 2020, the French palaeontologist Julien Benoit and colleagues tested lateral semicircular canal correlation to head posture on modern mammals, and found that whilst there was substantial correlation among the reconstructed and actual head postures, the plane from the semicircular Nigersaurus canal was not held horizontally in the resting pose as inferred.
There were lots of light, aerated bones — normally linked to theropods, like Tyrannosaurus rex, as well as the birds that progressed from them — so the scientists assumed that was what they were managing.
Even the skies were occupied – prolonged-winged traveling pterosaurs swooped overhead, occasionally diving down to snatch a tasty fish out from the river.
This revelation emanates from The reality that, Regardless of its elongated nostrils, the olfactory (smelling) area of its brain was somewhat little for its dimensions. 11. Nigersaurus could likely see virtually 360 degrees although feeding