Nigersaurus was named following the West African region where by its fossils have been discovered: The Republic of Niger. Back again when this animal roamed, forests and braided rivers protected the landscape. (Nigersaurus would've had to Be careful for Sarcosuchus, an enormous relative of contemporary crocodiles.)

It lived within a riparian habitat, and its diet regime most likely consisted of sentimental crops, like ferns, horsetails, and angiosperms. It really is The most frequent fossil vertebrates uncovered in the area, and shared its habitat with other dinosaurian megaherbivores, as well as substantial theropods and crocodylomorphs.

This Nigersaurus was a hatchling, in all probability less than a person 12 months from hatching when it died and was fossilized.”

Nigersaurus lived a hundred and ten million yrs ago in what has become Niger, West Africa. Even though the fossils ended up present in the Sahara Desert, when Nigersaurus lived the region was a floodplain with huge rivers, conifer forests and lush vegetation.

Nigersaurus most well-liked to are in places having drinking water Lakes or streams close by; the region is also referred to as the riparian zone. Because of abundant drinking water, a riparian zone has loads of minimal-lying vegetation. Riparian zones supply Nigersaurus with numerous varieties of vegetation.

Its exclusive dental structure implies that it could possibly have experienced another feeding approach as compared to other sauropods, and its existence in Africa signifies that these types of dinosaurs were being extra common than previously assumed.

Consequently as 1 tooth wore down or broke off, Yet another was prepared to just take its place. This quick tooth substitution cycle, occurring about every 14 times, ensured that Nigersaurus normally experienced functional teeth to approach its food items.

Nigersaurus are well-known dinosaurs for getting 500 slender teeth in their jaw. These dinosaurs have been identified not long ago within the yr 2000 and had been named in the consideration of state “Niger”. The word Nigersaurus has two parts; Niger (state identify), and Saurus (reptile).

The lizard from Niger was a comparatively small sauropod, measuring all around nine meters (30 ft) in size and weighing about four tons. It had a long neck and tail, with a brief, slender snout that was adapted for searching on very low-lying vegetation.

Fossils of the dinosaur were being initial described in 1976, but it had been only named Nigersaurus taqueti in 1999, soon after even further and even more complete stays were being discovered and described. The genus title indicates "Niger reptile", and the particular name honours the palaeontologist Philippe Taquet, who identified the main continues to be.

Greater nonetheless, These tooth columns have been packed ideal together with one another—like canned sardines. So a dinosaur 500 teeth dinosaur armed with dental batteries could easily property various hundred teeth (old and new) inside of its mouth.

Wedel and mentioned in 2016 that when sauropods normally could use their prolonged necks to detect predators from afar, This could not apply towards the brief-necked Nigersaurus. They identified that the eyes of Nigersaurus had been put more in direction of the top from the skull than for most other sauropods, previously mentioned the muzzle, which would give it overlapping fields of look at. Its visual industry might have been at or close to 360 degrees, and hypersensitivity of motion would have been imperative that you a vulnerable prey-animal.[twenty]

Diplodocus skull for comparison Its cranium was pretty distinct from Diplodocus, suggesting a unique feeding approach. It had numerous fenestrae (openings) and thin bones. It experienced a broad muzzle full of over 500 teeth.

In 2017, the Argentinian palaeontologist Lucio M. Ibiricu and colleagues examined the postcranial skeletal pneumaticity within the skeletons of rebbachisaurids, and suggested that it had been an adaptation for lowering the density from the skeleton, and that this might have lowered the muscle Strength necessary to transfer the body, plus the warmth generated in the method.