That vast muzzle with its Nigersaurus teeth was great for scooping up ferns, horsetails and also other small-lying plants. And Together with the bountiful teeth, the dinosaur would've had no trouble shearing by this vegetation.
Early land vegetation inhabited a very hot, humid setting. three hundred million several years ago, many land spots were being included in moist forests of giant clubmoss, horsetails and ferns. These seedless vegetation reproduce with spores, which require humid environments to outlive.
Nigersaurus is thought to have lived in huge herds and could possibly have migrated around extensive distances seeking food.
Comparable to other Sauropods, Nigersaurus have been herbivores. That they had grazed near to the ground and ate very low-lying vegetation. They'd a wide muzzle which assisted them in cropping more vegetative content in just one Chunk. You might Imagine they possibly ate grass, however the grass hadn’t progressed throughout that point.
The Nigersaurus is a captivating and one of a kind dinosaur which includes captured prevalent attention, partly because of its uncommon attributes and intriguing nickname given that the "dinosaur with five hundred teeth."
” Our initial week in the sphere is magnificent! Outstanding discoveries appear to be watching for us all over every dune. On our first working day, we found bones of your very long-necked dinosaur Nigersaurus. Nigersaurus, you might recall, we named for bones gathered on the final expedition right here three many years ago.
Eventually, back again during the lab, Sereno had to request a next impression from colleagues who labored on fossil fish along with other reptiles right before he figured it out.
Nigersaurus also bears indications of low-angle tooth-to-tooth put on on the inside on the maxillary crowns, which indicates that jaw movement was limited to specific up-and-down motions. Worn teeth in the lower jaw have not nevertheless been learned, but These are anticipated to indicate opposing tooth-to-tooth have on. The opportunity to elevate their heads well over the ground won't always indicate they browsed on merchandise there, as well as short neck of Nigersaurus might have restricted the browsing variety as compared to other diplodocoids.[three]
Nigersaurus's downward-going through mouth and vast dental arrangement advise it grazed on ground-stage vegetation as opposed to searching substantial vegetation.
The jaws might have borne a keratinous sheath. Unlike other tetrapods, the tooth-bearing bones of its jaws were rotated transversely relative to the rest of the cranium, so that each one of its teeth were located much to the front. Its skeleton was remarkably pneumatised (stuffed with air Areas linked to air sacs), however the limbs were robustly built.
Its feeding design has been when compared with that of modern grazing animals or perhaps a vacuum cleaner, as it probable swept its head side-to-facet even though consuming vegetation.
The immediate tooth substitution implies that it primarily fed on tender, abrasive crops, which might put on down its teeth speedily.
Diplodocus skull for comparison Its skull was quite unique from Diplodocus, suggesting a distinct feeding strategy. It experienced many fenestrae (openings) and thin bones. It had a large muzzle stuffed with much more than 500 teeth.
cranium bones. Two expeditions afterwards, plenty of product was uncovered to reconstruct eighty% from the beast’s skeleton. In 1999, the invention of far more fossils gave paleontologists Nigersaurus a primary glimpse from the dinosaur’s sophisticated dental batteries and vacuum-like mouth.