The stays of Nigersaurus have been at first described by Taquet in 1976 as belonging to some dicraeosaurid, but in 1999 Sereno and colleagues reclassified it as being a rebbachisaurid diplodocoid.[4] These scientists speculated that considering the fact that quick necks and compact sizing was regarded between basal diplodocoids, it may well suggest these were being ancestral capabilities from the team.
Its head is what definitely stands out about Nigersaurus, though. The jaws, which have a flat front, are lined with about five hundred teeth, which Sereno claims were being replaceable. These teeth were all exactly the same in sizing, and he estimates they probably only lasted about a month or so just before they ended up worn down.
Its feeding fashion has long been as compared to that of recent grazing animals or even a vacuum cleaner, since it likely swept its head aspect-to-facet while consuming vegetation.
Given that a number of rebbachisaurids inhabited latitudes that will happen to be tropical to subtropical in the center Cretaceous, this pneumaticity could possibly have aided the animals cope Along with the quite substantial temperatures. Based on Ibiricu and colleagues, this adaptation may be a reason why rebbachisaurids ended up the only group of diplodocoids that survived to the Late Cretaceous.[21]
This Nigersaurus was a hatchling, in all probability fewer than a person 12 months from hatching when it died and was fossilized.”
Nigersaurus did not show the identical modifications found in the jaws of other dinosaurs with dental batteries, or mammals with elaborate chewing functions. The lower jaw was L-shaped and divided in to the subcylindrical transverse ramus, which contained the teeth, along with the back again ramus, which was additional lightweight and was the location for many of the muscle mass attachments. It absolutely was distinctive in that the tooth row expanded to the sides in the plane of the principle ramus with the lessen jaw.
Similar to other Sauropods, Nigersaurus were herbivores. They had grazed near the bottom and ate small-lying vegetation. That they had a broad muzzle which served them in cropping extra vegetative substance in only one Chunk. You may think they probably ate grass, but the grass hadn’t progressed during that point.
The trick lies during the creature’s bones. Researchers may have uncovered additional Nigersaurus fossils In the event the animal experienced not had this sort of a fragile bone structure. In line with a study by Sereno et al. 2007, this creature had an extremely lightweight cranium. A lot of the bones in Nigersaurus
As it absolutely was a prey animal, it had been critical for Nigersaurus to obtain movement hypersensitivity to detect any likely threats.
The skull of a Nigersaurus was fabricated from thin bones and had a lot of smaller openings and pores. These options offered them good adaptability in feeding on the bottom. The muzzle from the Nigersaurus was extensive and very long which served it in consuming tiny floor-dependent vegetation.
The Nigersaurus is an interesting and one of a kind dinosaur which has captured prevalent consideration, partly because of its uncommon characteristics and intriguing nickname because the "dinosaur with 500 teeth."
The Nigersaurus, with its staggering 500 teeth, offers a captivating contrast to its dinosaur family, Particularly other sauropods. As opposed to its cousins with less, thicker teeth, the Nigersaurus’s slender, pencil-like teeth have been uniquely tailored for snipping smooth vegetation, a stark variance from your strong teeth of sauropods like Brachiosaurus, which ended up possible built to manage more durable plants.
We are not discussing AA Duracells in this article. Dental batteries were being economical meals processing applications employed by lots of plant-having dinos.
[13] Because of the lateral orientation from the teeth, it in all probability wouldn't have been capable to chew.[one] Nigersaurus wore its tooth crowns down more rapidly than other dinosaurian herbivores,[3] and its tooth substitute rate was the very best of any acknowledged dinosaur. Each individual tooth was changed the moment every single fourteen days; the speed experienced Earlier been estimated reduce. In contrast to Nigersaurus, sauropods with decrease tooth substitute prices and broader tooth crowns what dinosaur has 500 teeth are considered to are actually Cover browsers.[12]