Limb content in addition to a scapula discovered nearby were also referred to the identical specimen. These fossils are housed in the National Museum of Niger.
Its head is what genuinely stands out about Nigersaurus, while. The jaws, that have a flat front, are lined with about 500 teeth, which Sereno claims were being replaceable. These teeth were being all exactly the same in sizing, and he estimates they possibly only lasted about a month or so right before they were being worn down.
Over and above its paleontological significance, Nigersaurus has received focus on the net on account of its name. Some World-wide-web memes, especially the "You should not Google" craze, have highlighted the dinosaur as "the one with five hundred teeth.
After the iguanodontian Lurdusaurus, Nigersaurus was probably the most many megaherbivore. Other herbivores with the similar development include things like Ouranosaurus, Elrhazosaurus, and an unnamed titanosaur. Collectively, these compose one of several handful of associations of megaherbivores using a equilibrium of sauropods and enormous ornithopods.
Nigersaurus is a vital discovery for paleontologists as it really helps to shed light-weight on the evolution and diversity of sauropods through the mid-Cretaceous period of time.
Lifestyle restoration Nigersaurus was distinct in that its dorsal (again) vertebrae had paired pneumatic spaces at the base in the neural spines (the spines that projected upwards from your vertebrae). The presacral vertebrae (vertebrae before the sacrum) have been greatly pneumatised to the point the place the column consisted of a series of hollow "shells", Just about every divided by a skinny septum in the middle. It had minor to no cancellous bone, generating the centra slim bone plates filled with air Areas. The vertebral arches had been so greatly pierced by extensions from the exterior air sacs that in their facet partitions minor remained but two mm (0.
As we’ve observed, Nigersaurus experienced a wide muzzle and diverse teeth flawlessly suited to consuming lower-lying crops. This diet and lifestyle would've expected the creature to possess a regular provide of replacement teeth, as it would have worn out its tooth crowns fast. A analyze released while in the journal PLOS 1
Whilst other large animals examined (such as rhinoceroses) had thick and variable bone cortices, the cortex of Nigersaurus was relatively slender. These scientists suggested the microanatomy of sauropods was not affected by drastic selective stress due to bearing body weight, but that capabilities including the columnar limbs (as found in elephants), pneumaticity, and fleshy foot pads and cartilage peaceful pressure on the bones. They also recommended that sauropods could thus have been lighter in weight than expected for their size, supporting the bottom overall body mass estimates for these dinosaurs.[22]
A lot of Nigersaurus specimens collected by French and American expeditions stay to be explained.[9] Teeth similar to Those people of Nigersaurus have been uncovered over the Isle of Wight As well as in Brazil, but it is not known whether or not they belonged to kin of this taxon, or to titanosaurs, whose remains have been present in the vicinity.
Nigersaurus is often a genus of sauropod dinosaurs that lived roughly a hundred and fifteen to one zero five million decades in the past throughout the Early to Mid-Cretaceous period of time. It belonged to the rebbachisaurids, a subgroup of Diplodocoidea, a clade of prolonged-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs.
Following the iguanodontian Lurdusaurus, Nigersaurus was probably the most many megaherbivore. Other herbivores from the similar development involve Ouranosaurus, Elrhazosaurus, and an unnamed titanosaur. Jointly, these compose among the several associations of megaherbivores having a equilibrium of sauropods and huge ornithopods.
It lived in the riparian habitat, and its food plan most likely consisted of soppy crops, such as ferns, horsetails, and angiosperms. It is actually Among the most typical fossil vertebrates Nigersaurus located in the region, and shared its habitat with other dinosaurian megaherbivores, as well as substantial theropods and crocodylomorphs.
Only by bringing alongside one another plants from within the globe and a variety of present day environments can a dinosaur-age scene be recreated. Many of the vegetation, like ginkgos, look just about the same as their extinct ancestors; some, much like the conifer Araucaria, were the dominant trees with the forests 110 million decades ago.
‘ funny-seeking skull, battery of teeth, and smaller size for just a sauropod have absolutely won it a spot from the annals of dinosaur oddities.