Nigersaurus
Nigersaurus was a small, long-necked dinosaur that lived in Africa during the Early Cretaceous. It had a wide, flat mouth like a vacuum cleaner and ate soft plants close to the ground.2
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Fun facts
Nigersaurus had a skull so light and delicate that scientists used CT scans to study it without breaking it.2
Its mouth was wide and faced straight down, perfect for munching plants near the ground.2
Nigersaurus replaced its teeth very fast, about once every month, which is much quicker than most dinosaurs.2
This dinosaur had a short neck for a sauropod, with only 13 neck bones.2
Nigersaurus lived in a floodplain environment with rivers, about 110 million years ago.2
Its brain was small, with tiny smell bulbs, but scientists got a good look at it from a fossil endocast.2
Most asked questions about Nigersaurus
?How big was Nigersaurus?
Nigersaurus was about 9 to 14.1 metres long and weighed around 1.9 to 4 tonnes, about as heavy as a modern elephant.4
?What did Nigersaurus eat?
Nigersaurus ate soft plants like ferns, horsetails, and possibly angiosperms. It was a ground-level browser, gathering and slicing soft vegetation with its wide mouth.42
?When did Nigersaurus live?
Nigersaurus lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 121 to 99 million years ago, specifically around 115 to 105 million years ago.14
?Where was Nigersaurus found?
Nigersaurus was found in the Elrhaz Formation in an area called Gadoufaoua, in Niger, Africa. It is also known from Algeria and Tunisia.41
?How many teeth did Nigersaurus have?
Nigersaurus had more than 500 teeth in its wide muzzle. It replaced them very quickly, about every 14 days, which is faster than most other dinosaurs.4
?Was Nigersaurus a dinosaur?
Yes, Nigersaurus was a sauropod dinosaur, specifically a rebbachisaurid sauropod. It belonged to the group Diplodocoidea.41
?Why did Nigersaurus have a wide mouth?
Nigersaurus had a wide, flat mouth that faced straight down, perfect for cropping soft plants close to the ground. It was like a vacuum cleaner for ferns and horsetails.42
?How fast could Nigersaurus replace its teeth?
Nigersaurus replaced its teeth very rapidly, about once every 14 days, which is about twice as fast as hadrosaurid dinosaurs.42
?Was Nigersaurus bigger than T. rex?
No, Nigersaurus was generally smaller than T. rex. It was about 9 to 14.1 metres long, while T. rex was about 12 to 13 metres long, but Nigersaurus was lighter, weighing only 1.9 to 4 tonnes compared to T. rex's 7 to 8 tonnes.4
?Did Nigersaurus have feathers?
No, Nigersaurus was a sauropod dinosaur, and sauropods did not have feathers. It had scaly skin, like other reptiles.4
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Myth buster
Myth: Some people think Nigersaurus was a giant like other sauropods.
Truth: Nigersaurus was actually a small sauropod, only about 9 to 15 meters long and as heavy as an elephant.2
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Nigersaurus
- Named by
- Sereno et al. 19995
- Group
- Long-necks
- Family / clade
- Rebbachisauridae5
- Classification
- Sauropodomorpha > Sauropoda > Diplodocoidea5
- Age of the rocks
- 121 to 100 million years (Aptian / Albian)5
- Rock formations
- Elrhaz5
- Countries
- Niger5
- Fossil records
- 3 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- Nigersaurus was named in 1999 by Paul Sereno and his team, based on fossils found in the Ténéré Desert of Niger.52
- Still debated
- Scientists are still unsure exactly which plants Nigersaurus ate, because no stomach contents have been found.2
Where the facts come from
- Nigersaurus | Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk)
- Structural Extremes in a Cretaceous Dinosaur (exa.ai)
- 'Mesozoic Cow' Rises from the Sahara Desert : NPR (web.archive.org)
- Nigersaurus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Nigersaurus in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.
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