The adductor muscle of the jaw seems to own attached towards the quadrate rather than the supratemporal fenestra. Both of those this and the opposite mastication muscles have been probably weak, and Nigersaurus is estimated to acquire had one of several weakest bites from the sauropods.[three] In addition, As outlined by Whitlock and colleagues in 2011, the small, virtually parallel character with the tooth scratches and pits (a result of grit, which might not be received as usually by large-browsers) show that it ate fairly smooth, herbaceous plants such as very low-rising ferns.
Nigersaurus (/niːˈʒɛərsɔːrəs, ˈnaɪdʒərsɔːrəs/) is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived during the center Cretaceous period of time, about 115 to 105 million decades ago. It absolutely was learned in the Elrhaz Formation in a region named Gadoufaoua, in Niger.
What many people Never know is always that Paul Sereno failed to basically discover this dinosaur; the scattered remains of Nigersaurus (in northern Africa's Elrhaz formation, in Niger ) ended up explained by a French paleontologist from the late 1960's and released to the world inside a paper printed in 1976. Sereno did, even so, have the glory of naming this dinosaur (after researching added fossil specimens) and publicizing it to the planet at huge.
The Nigersaurus roamed the lush landscapes of the middle Cretaceous interval, in what is now the Sahara Desert of Niger. This place, when teeming with lifetime, offered a loaded tapestry of soft, leafy vegetation which was ideal for the Nigersaurus’s specialised food plan.
Nigersaurus most popular to are in places having drinking water Lakes or streams close by; the realm is also known as the riparian zone. On account of plentiful water, a riparian zone has many minimal-lying vegetation. Riparian zones deliver Nigersaurus with quite a few sorts of vegetation.
Reconstructed skeleton of Nigersaurus, showcasing the dinosaur's distinctive five hundred-tooth jaw structure and elongated body.
French paleontologists uncovered the main fossils of Nigersaurus during the Nigerian Sahara in the fifties. On the other hand, considering the fact that many of the bones were possibly isolated or incomplete (because of their fragility), it had been unattainable to discover the species.
This fast tooth substitute, with new teeth developing just about every 14 days, ensured it managed sharp edges for grazing on tender vegetation. The unique dental arrangement built it extremely effective at processing lower-lying plants, contributing to its track record as a specialised herbivore.
The reconstructed skeleton of an incredibly Odd dinosaur, the plant-eating Nigersaurus. This is a sculptural rendition of what the scientists anticipate the dinosaur's unique head might have seemed like.
Other scientists have disputed this assert, however. Experiments produced in 2009 and 2013 observed the position of the LSC can not reliably inform us what any given sauropod's usual head posture seemed like. Another person requires to develop a time device presently.
Improved but, All those tooth columns were packed proper together with each other—like canned sardines. So a dinosaur armed with dental batteries could comfortably residence various hundred teeth (old and new) inside its mouth.
The limited knowledge of the genus was the results of weak preservation of its remains, which arises within the delicate and remarkably pneumatic design (filled with air spaces linked to air sacs) of your cranium and skeleton, subsequently creating disarticulation in the fossils. Several of the cranium fossils have been so slim that a solid light-weight beam was visible through them. Thus, no intact skulls or articulated skeletons have been observed, and these specimens depict quite possibly the most entire acknowledged rebbachisaurid continues to be.[3][one]
Nigersaurus did not show exactly the same modifications viewed while in the jaws of other dinosaurs with dental batteries, what dinosaur has 500 teeth or mammals with elaborate chewing features. The lower jaw was L-shaped and divided into your subcylindrical transverse ramus, which contained the teeth, plus the back ramus, which was additional lightweight and was The situation for many of the muscle mass attachments. It was unique in which the tooth row expanded to the sides from your plane of the primary ramus of the decreased jaw.
The sauropod dinosaur Nigersaurus probable progressed its unusually-formed head to better mow prehistoric lawns.