" This stems from the misinterpretation of its name, which happens to be derived through the region of Niger, not a derogatory term.
Hans has actually been working with a crew of Allison and Dave to excavate a completely new internet site. As we dug across the cranium, we uncovered another juvenile skull of exactly the same species lying ideal next to the large one particular.
All round, Nigersaurus was a singular and strange dinosaur on account of its dental batteries and broad muzzle, which permitted it to competently method and Collect plant content. Its smaller sizing and herbivorous diet plan make it an interesting contrast into the larger, carnivorous dinosaurs which might be a lot more typically identified to most of the people.
But that’s not all for Nigersaurus. Chris took us all into a flat area of purple-colored sandstone where he had Found the upper jaw of the little one Nigersaurus—a person that might healthy on top of a silver greenback!
Nigersaurus is believed to behave very like other herbivore sauropods. They'd almost certainly spent most in their time in hold-Puppy positions and grazing small-lying vegetation.
Sauropod dinosaurs, like Nigersaurus, walked on four legs, having a very long “whiplash tail” and an extended neck. But in comparison to other sauropods, it absolutely was fairly tiny — sitting somewhere among an African and Indian elephant in dimension.
This sauropod (extensive-necked dinosaur) has an unusual skull made up of as numerous as five hundred slender teeth. A significant purpose of the expedition is to uncover the remainder of this unconventional dinosaur so we can describe it and reconstruct it for everybody to find out.
We're not speaking about AA Duracells here. Dental batteries had been effective foods processing resources utilized by several plant-having dinos.
The lizard from Niger was a relatively small sauropod, measuring all over 9 meters (thirty feet) in size and weighing about four tons. It had a protracted neck and tail, with a short, slim snout which was tailored for browsing on lower-lying vegetation.
And what a skeleton it absolutely was! The newfound fossils gave us our first look at the dino's sophisticated dental batteries and vacuum cleaner mouth. Sereno named the species Nigersaurus taqueti — as an homage to French paleontologist Philippe Taquet — in 1999.
The fragile character in the Nigersaurus’s slender teeth and delicate cranium designed excavation and preservation especially tough. Yet, these challenges had been fulfilled with progressive tactics in fossil recovery and 3D reconstruction, enabling experts to piece alongside one another the intricate specifics of 500 teeth dinosaur its jaw plus the astonishing assortment of 500 teeth.
The dental structures of Nigersaurus also advise which they ate comfortable plants in significant quantities to meet their nutritional necessities. They mostly ate angiosperms, horsetails, and ferns as foods. Several paleontologists also believe that their five hundred intently packed teeth arrangement also functioned just like a comb. This comb-like teeth arrangement can have also helped them in filtering and ingesting aquatic plants.
Skeletal diagram exhibiting acknowledged features and sizing comparison Sereno plus the American palaeontologist Jeffrey A. Wilson provided the initial specific description on the cranium and feeding adaptations in 2005.[one] In 2007, a far more detailed description of your skeleton was revealed by Sereno advert colleagues, dependant on a specimen found out 10 many years previously. The fossils, along with a reconstructed skeleton mount as well as a plastic product of The pinnacle and neck, have been subsequently offered with the Nationwide Geographic Society in Washington.
cranium bones. Two expeditions later, enough materials was located to reconstruct eighty% of your beast’s skeleton. In 1999, the discovery of far more fossils gave paleontologists a first glimpse of your dinosaur’s complex dental batteries and vacuum-like mouth.