Nigersaurus (/niːˈʒɛərsɔːrəs,ˈnaɪdʒərsɔːrəs/) is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived during the middle Cretaceous period, about 115 to 105 million years ago. It was discovered in the Elrhaz Formation in an area called Gadoufaoua, in Niger. Fossils of this dinosaur were first described in 1976, but it was only named Nigersaurus taqueti in 1999, after further and more complete remains were found and described. The genus name means "Niger reptile", and the specific name honours the palaeontologist Philippe Taquet, who discovered the first remains.
Small for a sauropod, Nigersaurus was about 9 m (30 ft) long, and had a short neck. It weighed around 1.9–4 t (2.1–4.4 short tons), comparable to a modern elephant. Its skull was very specialised for feeding, with large fenestrae and thin bones. It had a wide muzzle filled with more than 500 teeth, which were replaced at a rapid rate: around every 14 days. The jaws may have borne a keratinous sheath. Unlike other tetrapods, the tooth-bearing bones of its jaws were rotated transversely relative to the rest of the skull, so that all of its teeth were located far to the front. Its skeleton was highly pneumatised (filled with air spaces connected to air sacs), but the limbs were robustly built.
Nigersaurus and its closest relatives are grouped within the subfamily Rebbachisaurinae (formerly thought to be grouped in the eponymous Nigersaurinae) of the family Rebbachisauridae, which is part of the sauropod superfamily Diplodocoidea. Nigersaurus was probably a browser, and fed with its head close to the ground. The region of its brain that detected smell was underdeveloped, although its brain size was comparable to that of other dinosaurs. There has been debate on whether its head was habitually held downwards, or horizontally like other sauropods. It lived in a riparian habitat, and its diet probably consisted of soft plants, such as ferns, horsetails, and angiosperms. It is one of the most common fossil vertebrates found in the area, and shared its habitat with other dinosaurian megaherbivores, as well as large theropods and crocodylomorphs.
Numerous Nigersaurus specimens collected by French and American expeditions remain to be described. Teeth similar to those of Nigersaurus have been found...
of pits, and fine subparallel scratches in Apatosaurus, Diplodocus, Nigersaurus, and Rebbachisaurus suggest ground-height nonselective browsing; the...
considered an indeterminate neosauropod as it shows similarities to Nigersaurus teeth "Titanosaurus" colberti - This species was the most well-known...
continent, particularly Niger. Suchomimus, Elrhazosaurus, Rebbachisaurus, Nigersaurus, Kryptops, Nqwebasaurus, and Paranthodon are some of the Early Cretaceous...
also evolved tooth batteries, best exemplified by the rebbachisaurid Nigersaurus. There were three general dinosaur faunas in the Late Cretaceous. In...
or a basal saurischian, but is now widely considered a sauropodomorph Nigersaurus taqueti MNN GAD512 Musée National Boubou Hama Aptian Elrhaz Formation...
enamel. Unique among sauropods, at least some rebbachisaurids (such as Nigersaurus) are characterised by the presence of tooth batteries, similar to those...
rates to keep up with their large appetites. The study suggested that Nigersaurus, for example, replaced each tooth every 14 days, Camarasaurus replaced...
Pack is a paid DLC pack that adds the Dryosaurus, Homalocephale, and Nigersaurus as hatchable dinosaurs. Raptor Squad Skin Collection 26 November 2019...
alongside the iguanodonts Elrhazosaurus and Ouranosaurus, the sauropod Nigersaurus, an undescribed titanosaurid, the spinosaurid Suchomimus, the carcharodontosaurid...
Elrhazosaurus nigeriensis, Lurdusaurus arenatus, and two sauropods: Nigersaurus taqueti, and an unnamed titanosaur. Crocodylomorphs were abundant; represented...
Inawentu showed several convergent similarities to rebbachisaurids such as Nigersaurus, such as a wide, squared-off snout that was deflected strongly downward...
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