" This stems from the misinterpretation of its title, which happens to be derived from the region of Niger, not a derogatory expression.
Nigersaurus (/niːˈʒɛərsɔːrəs, ˈnaɪdʒərsɔːrəs/) is actually a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived in the course of the middle Cretaceous period, about a hundred and fifteen to one zero five million many years back. It had been identified in the Elrhaz Development in a place termed Gadoufaoua, in Niger.
Initial discoveries of Nigersaurus fossils date again on the nineteen sixties, nonetheless it wasn't until the nineteen seventies that extra finish stays had been uncovered. These remains were formally examined and described by paleontologist Paul Sereno and his team in 1999.
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lived in what is now Niger about a hundred and fifteen to 105 million years back, through the Aptian and Albian ages of the mid-Cretaceous. It probably lived in habitats dominated by inland floodplains (a riparian zone).
The confined idea of the genus was the result of poor preservation of its stays, which occurs from your fragile and hugely pneumatic design (filled with air Areas linked to air sacs) of the skull and skeleton, consequently producing disarticulation of the fossils. Many of the cranium fossils had been so skinny that a robust light-weight beam was obvious via them. For that reason, no intact skulls or articulated skeletons are already uncovered, and these specimens represent by far the most complete recognized rebbachisaurid stays.[three][one]
We are not discussing AA Duracells in this article. Dental batteries were being successful foodstuff processing equipment employed by quite a few plant-eating dinos.
Existence restoration Nigersaurus was distinct in that its dorsal (back) vertebrae had paired pneumatic spaces at the base of your neural spines (the spines that Nigersaurus projected upwards from your vertebrae). The presacral vertebrae (vertebrae before the sacrum) were being intensely pneumatised to the point in which the column consisted of the number of hollow "shells", Every single divided by a skinny septum in the middle. It experienced minimal to no cancellous bone, earning the centra slim bone plates filled with air spaces. The vertebral arches were so closely pierced by extensions in the exterior air sacs that in their facet partitions minor remained but 2 mm (0.
Its head is what seriously stands out about Nigersaurus, nevertheless. The jaws, that have a flat front, are lined with about five hundred teeth, which Sereno says were being replaceable. These teeth have been all the same in measurement, and he estimates that they in all probability only lasted about a month or so right before they have been worn down.
This authorized the dinosaur to own a constant supply of fresh new teeth, permitting it to carry on to properly method plant materials at the same time as its teeth don down.
Nigersaurus lived in what is currently the Sahara Desert during the mid-Cretaceous period of time, roughly one hundred fifteen to 105 million several years ago, in the lush, riverine habitat with abundant vegetation.
The dinosaur's vertebrae was filled with air pockets just like These of birds, Hence the dinosaur was likely quite gentle, at the same time. Its Mind was with regards to the size of a walnut, which is kind of ordinary for sauropods, Sereno says.
Nigersaurus was almost certainly a browser, and fed with its head near the ground. The region of its brain that detected odor was little, While its brain dimensions was comparable to that of other dinosaurs. There have been debate on no matter if its head was habitually held downwards, or horizontally like other sauropods.