“It’s a thing that genuinely takes the cake for awesome cranial adaptations Within this group, the extended-necked dinosaurs,” claims Sereno, a professor of paleontology for the College of Chicago. “It’s only a majestic example of evolution.”
Nigersaurus (/niːˈʒɛərsɔːrəs, ˈnaɪdʒərsɔːrəs/) is often a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived in the course of the center Cretaceous period, about 115 to one hundred and five million a long time back. It had been discovered while in the Elrhaz Formation in an area referred to as Gadoufaoua, in Niger.
But a 3rd sauropod, the South American Antarctosaurus, might or might not are actually a kissing cousin as well.
Nigersaurus, a rebbachisaurid sauropod from the middle Cretaceous interval, was found in the Elrhaz Development in Niger. Its identify, which means “Niger’s lizard,” was specified adhering to the discovery of additional full continues to be in 1999, Despite the fact that its fossils have been first explained in 1976.
8 ft) in duration and weighing about 2 tons. In spite of its compact measurement as compared to other sauropods, it obtained interest on account of its unique anatomy, which includes a broad muzzle resembling a vacuum cleaner and dental batteries consisting of numerous smaller, needle-formed teeth arranged in columns.
Reconstructed skeleton of Nigersaurus, showcasing the dinosaur's one of a kind five hundred-tooth jaw structure and elongated human body.
With an astonishing 500 teeth, this dinosaur gives a novel glimpse into the evolutionary adaptations of prehistoric creatures. Allow’s examine the globe from the Nigersaurus and its intriguing dental anatomy.
Its cranium was incredibly specialised for feeding. It had 4 substantial aspect fenestrae, openings while in the skull and slender bones. It experienced a broad muzzle full of in excess of five hundred teeth, which were changed all over each individual fourteen days. The jaws could possibly have had a keratinous sheath, some thing just like a wide beak. Nigersaurus is the one recognized tetrapod animal to have had jaws broader as opposed to skull and teeth that extended laterally throughout the entrance.
Paleontologist Paul Sereno described Nigersaurus as “the weirdest dinosaur I’ve at any time noticed” when the dinosaur’s abnormal functions were initially uncovered in 2007. The teeth were particularly noteworthy since they were organized in dental batteries, which are generally present in beaked herbivores like Triceratops and Edmontosaurus, but are exceptional among the sauropods.
And what a skeleton it was! The newfound fossils gave us our first look at the dino's sophisticated dental batteries and vacuum cleaner mouth. Sereno named the species Nigersaurus taqueti — as an homage to French paleontologist Philippe Taquet — in 1999.
But that’s not all for Nigersaurus. Chris took us all into a flat space of purple-colored sandstone in which he experienced Positioned the higher jaw of the child Nigersaurus Nigersaurus—one that could in good shape along with a silver greenback!
Horsetails (Equisetum) Possess a central, hollow stem with whorls of leaves or thin branches. They hold their spores within a cigar-shaped “cone” at the very best of the plant. Horsetails day again to ~370 million a long time ago. All through the beginning from the dinosaur period they grew to generally be almost 30 feet tall (10m.)
This composition was among the the 1st dinosaur skulls to get digitally reconstructed making use of CT scans, providing unprecedented insights into its feeding mechanics.
This reptile was far larger sized than any residing crocodile. Judging from your six-foot skull we located in the primary week, we suspect it can have measured around 40 toes very long! The armor plates on its back again calculated a foot throughout. We even laid out the crew to obtain a sense of just how significant this animal was.