A 2009 analyze with the British palaeontologist Mike P. Taylor and colleagues agreed that Nigersaurus was in the position to feed Together with the downturned head and neck posture proposed by the 2007 analyze, but contested that this was the habitual posture on the animal. The study pointed out which the "neutral" head and neck posture of contemporary animals doesn't automatically correspond to their habitual head posture.
It even further argued the orientation of the semicircular canals varies drastically inside present day species, and is particularly therefore not reliable for analyzing head posture.[23] This was supported through the Spanish palaeontologist Jesús Marugán-Lobón and colleagues in a very 2013 analyze that prompt the methods used by Sereno's team had been imprecise, Which Nigersaurus habitually held its head like other sauropods.[24]
But a third sauropod, the South American Antarctosaurus, may or may not are actually a kissing cousin as well.
Nigersaurus is a crucial discovery for paleontologists mainly because it helps to drop mild on the evolution and diversity of sauropods in the course of the mid-Cretaceous time period.
The Nigersaurus is a captivating and special dinosaur which has captured widespread attention, partly as a consequence of its abnormal features and intriguing nickname given that the "dinosaur with 500 teeth."
” Our first 7 days in the sector has been breathtaking! Amazing discoveries appear to be waiting for us about every single dune. On our to start with day, we uncovered bones with the prolonged-necked dinosaur Nigersaurus. Nigersaurus, you could possibly don't forget, we named for bones gathered on the final expedition right here a few decades in the past.
Once the iguanodontian Lurdusaurus, Nigersaurus was by far the most various megaherbivore. Other herbivores within the very same development incorporate Ouranosaurus, Elrhazosaurus, and an unnamed titanosaur. With each other, these compose one of the couple associations of megaherbivores by using a stability of sauropods and large ornithopods.
This what dinosaur has 500 teeth immediate tooth substitute, with new teeth escalating just about every 14 times, ensured it taken care of sharp edges for grazing on comfortable vegetation. The distinctive dental arrangement created it hugely effective at processing low-lying crops, contributing to its popularity to be a specialized herbivore.
This revelation arises from The reality that, Inspite of its elongated nostrils, the olfactory (smelling) location of its Mind was rather compact for its sizing. eleven. Nigersaurus could probably see almost 360 levels when feeding
Nigersaurus is finest noted for its distinct skull and jaw, which contained close to five hundred slender teeth arranged in tightly packed rows. These teeth were specialised for grazing on minimal-lying vegetation, building Nigersaurus a hugely effective herbivore.
A 2023 research with the French palaeontologist Rémi Lefebvre and colleagues examined the microanatomical construction in the limb bones of Nigersaurus as a result of CT-scans, the first this sort of study of the sauropod. Digital sections of your limb bones sampled from persons of various measurements were explored to ascertain the range of variation. Hefty-pounds bearing animals often have capabilities associated with this problem, influencing the internal framework of your limb bones, though the variation in between these bones is improperly recognized.
Wedel and stated in 2016 that whilst sauropods in general could use their lengthy necks to detect predators from afar, this would not utilize into the small-necked Nigersaurus. They identified that the eyes of Nigersaurus had been placed further more towards the very best of your skull than in many other sauropods, earlier mentioned the muzzle, which would give it overlapping fields of view. Its visual discipline would've been at or close to 360 levels, and hypersensitivity of motion would have been imperative that you a vulnerable prey-animal.[20]
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Through a painstaking course of action, this team was in a position to reconstruct The within of Nigersaurus' cranium. That gave them a very good consider the lateral semicircular canal (LSC) with the interior ear, which allows animals maintain their stability.