As it had been a prey animal, it was vital for Nigersaurus to own movement hypersensitivity to detect any probable threats.
It lived in a riparian habitat, and its diet regime almost certainly consisted of soft vegetation, such as ferns, horsetails, and angiosperms. It is actually Among the most frequent fossil vertebrates uncovered in the area, and shared its habitat with other dinosaurian megaherbivores, and huge theropods and crocodylomorphs.
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Nigersaurus also bears indications of minimal-angle tooth-to-tooth don on the inside with the maxillary crowns, which implies that jaw motion was restricted to precise up-and-down motions. Worn teeth through the lessen jaw have not nevertheless been discovered, but They can be envisioned to show opposing tooth-to-tooth use. A chance to increase their heads very well above the ground would not always indicate they browsed on merchandise there, as well as quick neck of Nigersaurus would've limited the browsing assortment as compared to other diplodocoids.[3]
The Nigersaurus is a fascinating and exceptional dinosaur which has captured widespread focus, partly as a consequence of its strange features and intriguing nickname as being the "dinosaur with five hundred teeth."
Reconstructed skeleton of Nigersaurus, showcasing the dinosaur's distinctive 500-tooth jaw construction and elongated human body.
As we go on to review this intriguing creature, we have been reminded on the intricate and numerous paths that evolution can take.
Wedel and said in 2016 that whilst sauropods generally could use their extensive necks to detect predators from afar, This is able to not utilize on the short-necked Nigersaurus. They pointed out which the what dinosaur has 500 teeth eyes of Nigersaurus were put further more in direction of the very best from the cranium than for most other sauropods, earlier mentioned the muzzle, which would give it overlapping fields of check out. Its Visible industry would've been at or near 360 degrees, and hypersensitivity of motion would've been crucial that you a vulnerable prey-animal.[20]
Nigersaurus's feeding method was not like a number of other dinosaurs. Its broad, flat jaw was adapted for grazing close to the bottom, earning it the nickname "Mesozoic Cow."
Nigersaurus is ideal known for its unique cranium and jaw, which contained somewhere around five hundred slender teeth organized in tightly packed rows. These teeth have been specialised for grazing on very low-lying vegetation, earning Nigersaurus a highly productive herbivore.
Although it experienced huge nostrils and a fleshy snout, Sereno and colleagues discovered that Nigersaurus experienced an underdeveloped olfactory area of its Mind and so did not have a complicated feeling of odor. Its brain-to-physique-mass ratio was regular to get a reptile, and smaller sized than All those of ornithischians and non-coelurosaurian theropods. The cerebrum comprised about thirty% with the brain quantity, as in many other dinosaurs.[three] The American palaeoartist Mark Hallett and paleontologist Mathew J.
The swift tooth alternative implies that it principally fed on soft, abrasive vegetation, which would have on down its teeth immediately.
Fossils of this dinosaur ended up 1st described in 1976, but it was only named Nigersaurus taqueti in 1999, just after even further plus more entire remains were being located and described. The genus name suggests "Niger reptile", and the particular name honours the palaeontologist Philippe Taquet, who discovered the main stays.
Nigersaurus was most likely a browser, and fed with its head near to the ground. The location of its brain that detected odor was little, Despite the fact that its brain dimensions was similar to that of other dinosaurs. There have been debate on no matter whether its head was habitually held downwards, or horizontally like other sauropods.