After the iguanodontian Lurdusaurus, Nigersaurus was essentially the most several megaherbivore. Other herbivores in the exact same formation contain Ouranosaurus, Elrhazosaurus, and an unnamed titanosaur. Alongside one another, these compose among the couple of associations of megaherbivores having a harmony of sauropods and enormous ornithopods.

The nickname "dinosaur with 500 teeth" comes from Nigersaurus's distinct dental battery. Its jaw held roughly 500 slender teeth, arranged in tightly packed rows, and these teeth had been continuously changed throughout its lifestyle.

There were plenty of mild, aerated bones — normally linked to theropods, like Tyrannosaurus rex, plus the birds that progressed from them — And so the scientists assumed which was what they were being dealing with.

In typically colourful vogue, Sereno explained Nigersaurus as being a cross involving Darth Vader and a vacuum cleaner and also referred to as it a "Mesozoic cow" (not an inaccurate description, should you disregard the fact that an entire-grown Nigersaurus measured 30 ft from head to tail and weighed up to 5 tons!)

In spite of its quick head and small neck, it experienced a protracted tail and teeth which were tailored for grazing on crops. Nigersaurus is believed to are actually a quadrupedal herbivore and can have fed on smooth crops applying its lengthy neck and a small head.

‘ cranium was greater and Found farther previously mentioned the muzzle compared to other sauropods. This suggests that its visual fields overlapped, causing a close to 360-diploma area of check out (very similar to modern day cows).

Having said that, this declare has become contested by other scientists who believe Nigersaurus was possibly additional regular of other sauropods.

We are not referring to AA Duracells listed here. Dental batteries have been productive food stuff processing applications employed by quite a few plant-taking in dinos.

In 2019, Mannion and colleagues pointed out that since Nigersaurus was observed to generally be the sister taxon of all other nigersaurines in certain experiments, a Rebbachisaurinae clade may well not necessarily include things like Nigersaurus itself (together with the undeniable fact that the place of Rebbachisaurus could improve in upcoming analyses), and supported the continued use with the name Nigersaurinae about Rebbachisaurinae for all rebbachisaurids additional intently linked to Nigersaurus than to Limaysaurus.

Fossils of this dinosaur had been 1st explained in 1976, but it had been only named Nigersaurus taqueti in 1999, immediately after further more and much more finish stays have been located and described. The genus identify suggests "Niger reptile", and the precise title honours the palaeontologist Philippe Taquet, who uncovered the primary stays.

Better nevertheless, Those people tooth columns were packed proper together with each other—like canned sardines. So a dinosaur armed with dental batteries could easily home quite a few hundred teeth (aged and new) inside its mouth.

This Nigersaurus was a hatchling, probably lower than one calendar year from hatching when it died and was fossilized.

Dental batteries are a unique adaptation present in some plant-taking in dinosaurs that allowed them to successfully process 500 teeth dinosaur tricky vegetation. These batteries include vertically stacked columns of teeth, Using the top tooth in Each individual column remaining changed because it wears out.

The Nigersaurus was a floor-degree browser. Its extensive muzzle, combined with its a lot of teeth, permitted it to take in substantial amounts of vegetation in just one Chunk. The orientation of its teeth, all positioned with the front of its jaws, enabled it to correctly crop and Get foodstuff close to the bottom.