Nigersaurus
Encyclopedia
Nigersaurus is a genus
of diplodocoid
sauropod dinosaur
from the middle Cretaceous
period, about 119 to 99 million years ago during the Aptian
or Albian
age. This dinosaur was described by Paul Sereno
and colleagues in 1999. It is one of the most common genera found in the rich fossil vertebrate fauna of the Elrhaz Formation
, Gadoufaoua
, in the Niger Republic
, discovered by Philippe Taquet
, and described in a paper published in 1976.
Nigersaurus was a plant-eater that had an unusual mouth "shaped like the wide intake slot of a vacuum" that took in food and chewed it with over a hundred very small, sharp teeth. Previously, such tooth batteries have been known only in hadrosaur and ceratopsia
n dinosaurs, but the discovery of Nigersaurus showed that at least one sauropod lineage, the rebbachisaurids
, had them, as well.
Although a common genus, Nigersaurus had been poorly known until 2005, because of the delicate and highly pneumatic (filled with air spaces) construction of the skull and skeleton, which means that the fossil remains have been disarticulated. Sereno and Jeffrey A. Wilson
in 2005 provided the first description of the skull and feeding adaptations. Nigersaurus had as many as 500 http://www.projectexploration.org/nigersaurus/meet.htm or 600 teeth in its shovel-shaped head. In 2007 an article published in the Public Library of Science
(PLoS) by Sereno et al. detailed the unique anatomy of Nigersaurus. Study of its inner ear shows that Nigersaurus head was oriented downwards and was best suited for low level browsing.
The New York Times
reports:
Like other sauropods from what used to be Gondwana
, it had a shorter neck than Laurasia
n sauropods like Barosaurus
. Despite these stockier proportions, Nigersaurus reached about 9 meters (29.5 ft) in length. At nine meters in length, Nigersaurus was smaller than other members of the Rebbachisaur family, such as Rebbachisaurus
itself, a large animal with a distinctive low spinal ridge on its back. Nigersaurus, although smaller, had a similar ridge, which in life would have consisted of skin and perhaps also flesh stretched across elongate neural spines in the vertebrae.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of diplodocoid
Diplodocoidea
Diplodocoidea was a superfamily of sauropod dinosaurs, which included some of the longest animals of all time, including slender giants like Supersaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, and Amphicoelias...
sauropod dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
from the middle Cretaceous
Cretaceous
The Cretaceous , derived from the Latin "creta" , usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago. In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
period, about 119 to 99 million years ago during the Aptian
Aptian
The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous epoch or series and encompasses the time from 125.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma , approximately...
or Albian
Albian
The Albian is both an age of the geologic timescale and a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch/series. Its approximate time range is 112.0 ± 1.0 Ma to 99.6 ± 0.9 Ma...
age. This dinosaur was described by Paul Sereno
Paul Sereno
Paul Callistus Sereno is an American paleontologist from the University of Chicago who discovered several new dinosaur species on several continents. He has conducted excavations at sites as varied as Inner Mongolia, Argentina, Morocco, and Niger...
and colleagues in 1999. It is one of the most common genera found in the rich fossil vertebrate fauna of the Elrhaz Formation
Elrhaz Formation
The Elrhaz Formation is a geological formation in Niger whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous...
, Gadoufaoua
Gadoufaoua
Gadoufaoua is a site in the Tenere desert of Niger known for its extensive fossil graveyard, where remains of Sarcosuchus imperator, popularly known as SuperCroc, have been found , including vertebrae, limb bones, armor plates, jaws, and a nearly complete 6-foot skull.Gadoufaoua is very hot...
, in the Niger Republic
Niger
Niger , officially named the Republic of Niger, is a landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east...
, discovered by Philippe Taquet
Philippe Taquet
Philippe Taquet is a French paleontologist who specializes in dinosaur systematics of finds primarily in northern Africa.He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences since November 30, 2004...
, and described in a paper published in 1976.
Ceratopsia
Ceratopsia or Ceratopia is a group of herbivorous, beaked dinosaurs which thrived in what are now North America, Europe, and Asia, during the Cretaceous Period, although ancestral forms lived earlier, in the Jurassic. The earliest known ceratopsian, Yinlong downsi, lived between 161.2 and 155.7...
n dinosaurs, but the discovery of Nigersaurus showed that at least one sauropod lineage, the rebbachisaurids
Rebbachisauridae
Rebbachisauridae is a family of sauropod dinosaurs known from fragmentary fossil remains from the Cretaceous of South America, Africa, and Europe.-Taxonomy:...
, had them, as well.
Although a common genus, Nigersaurus had been poorly known until 2005, because of the delicate and highly pneumatic (filled with air spaces) construction of the skull and skeleton, which means that the fossil remains have been disarticulated. Sereno and Jeffrey A. Wilson
Jeffrey A. Wilson
Jeffrey A. Wilson also known as "JAW "is a professor of geological sciences and assistant curator at the Museum of Paleontology at the University of Michigan....
in 2005 provided the first description of the skull and feeding adaptations. Nigersaurus had as many as 500 http://www.projectexploration.org/nigersaurus/meet.htm or 600 teeth in its shovel-shaped head. In 2007 an article published in the Public Library of Science
Public Library of Science
The Public Library of Science is a nonprofit open-access scientific publishing project aimed at creating a library of open access journals and other scientific literature under an open content license...
(PLoS) by Sereno et al. detailed the unique anatomy of Nigersaurus. Study of its inner ear shows that Nigersaurus head was oriented downwards and was best suited for low level browsing.
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reports:
Gondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
, it had a shorter neck than Laurasia
Laurasia
In paleogeography, Laurasia was the northernmost of two supercontinents that formed part of the Pangaea supercontinent from approximately...
n sauropods like Barosaurus
Barosaurus
Barosaurus ; Greek barys/βαρυς meaning 'heavy' and saurus/σαυρος meaning 'lizard', 'heavy lizard') was a giant, long-tailed, long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur closely related to the more familiar Diplodocus...
. Despite these stockier proportions, Nigersaurus reached about 9 meters (29.5 ft) in length. At nine meters in length, Nigersaurus was smaller than other members of the Rebbachisaur family, such as Rebbachisaurus
Rebbachisaurus
Rebbachisaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur of the superfamily Diplodocoidea, up to 20 meters long, that lived during the Early-Late Cretaceous period in Africa about 99 million years ago. This massive four-legged plant-eating animal had a small head, a long, graceful neck and a whiplike...
itself, a large animal with a distinctive low spinal ridge on its back. Nigersaurus, although smaller, had a similar ridge, which in life would have consisted of skin and perhaps also flesh stretched across elongate neural spines in the vertebrae.