Nigersaurus is positioned inside the category of sauropods wherein many of the very long-necked and long-tailed dinosaurs are put. Nigersaurus was probably among the smallest sauropods simply because its neck was limited. An adult Nigersaurus weighed close to 4 tons and its size was corresponding to a contemporary Elephant.
Nigersaurus (/niːˈʒɛərsɔːrəs, ˈnaɪdʒərsɔːrəs/) can be a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived throughout the center Cretaceous interval, about a hundred and fifteen to a hundred and five million several years ago. It absolutely was identified in the Elrhaz Development in a region named Gadoufaoua, in Niger.
We are closing in on that goal quickly for the reason that we arrived upon a skeleton a few days later! This skeleton is lying on its facet Using the tail curved upward. The curve on the spine measures about 15 feet.
Due to the fact quite a few rebbachisaurids inhabited latitudes that may are already tropical to subtropical in the Middle Cretaceous, this pneumaticity may have served the animals cope While using the really large temperatures. Based on Ibiricu and colleagues, this adaptation may be a rationale why rebbachisaurids had been the only group of diplodocoids that survived into the Late Cretaceous.[21]
While other hefty animals examined (including rhinoceroses) experienced thick and variable bone cortices, the cortex of Nigersaurus was somewhat skinny. These scientists advised which the microanatomy of sauropods was not affected by drastic selective stress a result of bearing bodyweight, but that functions including the columnar limbs (as noticed in elephants), pneumaticity, and fleshy foot pads and cartilage calm strain over the bones. They also proposed that sauropods may well thus have been lighter in weight than expected for his or her size, supporting the lowest body mass estimates for these dinosaurs.[22]
This sauropod (long-necked dinosaur) has an strange skull made up of as a lot of as five hundred slender teeth. A significant goal of the expedition is to uncover the remainder of this abnormal dinosaur so we can explain it and reconstruct it for everyone to check out.
Dependant on this biomechanical Examination, the group concluded that the head and muzzle were habitually oriented 67° downwards and shut to floor stage, being an adaptation for ground-amount searching. This is often in contrast to the way other sauropods are already restored, with their heads held additional horizontally.[3]
e. Apatosaurus. Additionally they experienced predators that lived in exactly the same location and 1 of their predators was theropoda.
The teeth’s distinctive condition and arrangement had been Nigersaurus flawlessly fitted to its feeding habits. The slender, chisel-like teeth could efficiently snip off delicate vegetation, and their swift substitution ensured which the dinosaur could constantly feed without looking forward to new teeth to increase.
Nigersaurus was named after the West African region wherever its fossils are actually located: The Republic of Niger. Back when this animal roamed, forests and braided rivers coated the landscape. (Nigersaurus would've had to Be careful for Sarcosuchus, an enormous relative of modern crocodiles.)
But that’s not all for Nigersaurus. Chris took us all to some flat spot of purple-coloured sandstone where by he experienced Positioned the upper jaw of a baby Nigersaurus—a person that may in good shape along with a silver dollar!
On the basis of microtomography scans of skull features of your holotype specimen, Sereno and colleagues made a "prototype" Nigersaurus cranium they may analyze. Additionally they produced an endocast in the brain and scanned the semicircular canals of its inner ear, which they identified to get oriented horizontally. Inside their 2007 examine, they stated which the composition with the occiput at the back of the cranium and cervical vertebrae would've limited the upward and downward motion in the neck and also the rotation of the cranium.
The journey to uncover the secrets on the Nigersaurus commenced with the very first fossil fragments discovered while in the seventies while in the Elrhaz Formation of Niger, but it really wasn’t until 1999 that much more full stays brought this intriguing dinosaur into your Highlight. These discoveries introduced paleontologists with both problems and chances.
The nickname "dinosaur with 500 teeth" emanates from Nigersaurus's distinctive dental battery. Its jaw held close to five hundred slender teeth, arranged in tightly packed rows, and these teeth were being continuously replaced throughout its life.