Dinosaurs 500 teeth

That nickname was given to the African dinosaur Nigersaurus taqueti — back when some new discoveries about its appearance were made public in What dinosaur has teeth?

It was discovered in the Elrhaz Formation in an area called Gadoufaoua , in Niger. Fossils of this dinosaur were first described in , but it was only named Nigersaurus taqueti in , 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. Its skull was very specialised for feeding, with large fenestrae and thin bones.

Dinosaurs 500 teeth

He was excavating bones in a dry region called Gadoufaoua, which had a rich fossil bed first discovered by French uranium miners. There were a lot of light, aerated bones — usually associated with theropods, like Tyrannosaurus rex, and the birds that evolved from them — so the researchers assumed that was what they were dealing with. As Sereno began to piece together the fossils, he realized it must be a sauropod, or long-necked dinosaur. Most of the bones appeared fairly typical for long-necked dinosaurs —except for its bizarrely-shaped head. Eventually, back in the lab, Sereno had to ask for a second opinion from colleagues who worked on fossil fish and other reptiles before he figured it out. There are a lot of strange-looking dinosaurs out there. The sauropod's jaw looks almost like a large nail clipper, with large rows of hundreds of teeth on its upper and lower jaws. But compared to other sauropods, it was relatively small — sitting somewhere between an African and Indian elephant in size. The dinosaur's vertebrae was filled with air pockets similar to those of birds, so the dinosaur was likely quite light, as well. Its brain was about the size of a walnut, which is more or less average for sauropods, Sereno says. Its head is what really stands out about Nigersaurus , though. The jaws, which have a flat front, are lined with about teeth, which Sereno says were replaceable. These teeth were all the same in size, and he estimates that they probably only lasted about a month or so before they were worn down.

More From Discover. Topics in sauropodomorph research Sauropod neck posture Sauropod hiatus List of sauropod species. Some of the skull fossils were so thin that a dinosaurs 500 teeth light beam was visible through them.

Nigersaurus lived in a lush environment alongside the predatory dinosaur Suchomimus, the plant eaters ouranosaurus and lurdusaurus, and supercroc. Nigersaurus had a delicate skull and an extremely wide mouth lined with teeth especially adapted for browsing plants close to the ground. This bizarre, long-necked dinosaur is characterized by its unusually broad, straight-edged muzzle tipped with more than replaceable teeth. The original fossil skull of Nigersaurus is one of the first dinosaur skulls to be digitally reconstructed from CT scans. Our first week in the field has been spectacular! Remarkable discoveries seem to be waiting for us around every dune.

Nigersaurus lived in a lush environment alongside the predatory dinosaur Suchomimus, the plant eaters ouranosaurus and lurdusaurus, and supercroc. Nigersaurus had a delicate skull and an extremely wide mouth lined with teeth especially adapted for browsing plants close to the ground. This bizarre, long-necked dinosaur is characterized by its unusually broad, straight-edged muzzle tipped with more than replaceable teeth. The original fossil skull of Nigersaurus is one of the first dinosaur skulls to be digitally reconstructed from CT scans. Our first week in the field has been spectacular! Remarkable discoveries seem to be waiting for us around every dune. On our first day, we found bones of the long-necked dinosaur Nigersaurus. Nigersaurus, you might remember, we named for bones collected on the last expedition here three years ago. This sauropod long-necked dinosaur has an unusual skull containing as many as slender teeth. A major goal of this expedition is to find the rest of this unusual dinosaur so we can describe it and reconstruct it for everyone to see.

Dinosaurs 500 teeth

When it comes to dinosaurs, one of the most fascinating aspects is their teeth. From the fearsome Tyrannosaurus Rex with its large, sharp teeth to herbivorous dinosaurs with flatter, grinding teeth, these prehistoric creatures exhibit a wide range of dental arrangements. So, what dinosaur has teeth? The answer is the Nigersaurus. It lived during the middle Cretaceous period, approximately to million years ago. This dinosaur was first discovered in the Republic of Niger, from which it gets its name. The Nigersaurus is known for having more teeth than any other dinosaur discovered to date. But why does this dinosaur have teeth? The answer lies in its diet and feeding habits. The Nigersaurus was a herbivore, and its mouth was designed to efficiently process plant material.

Verizon fios call forwarding

Their ranks included the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. One of the major dinosaurian groups, the plant-eating, small-headed sauropods hung around for about million years. These connecting struts of bones were usually less than 2 mm 0. Nigersaurus would've had to watch out for Sarcosuchus, a huge relative of modern crocodiles. The slender teeth had slightly curved tooth crowns , which were oval in cross-section. More From Discover. An unorthodox herbivore, this reptile grazed in what's now the Sahara Desert million years ago. After the initial discovery, Sereno found another Nigersaurus specimen during an expedition in This Nigersaurus was a hatchling, probably less than one year from hatching when it died and was fossilized. Grass did not evolve until the late Cretaceous, making ferns , horsetails , and angiosperms which had evolved by the middle Cretaceous potential food for Nigersaurus.

Dinosaurs have always fascinated us with their extraordinary features, and one particularly intriguing species stands out — the dinosaur with an astonishing teeth. In this exploration, we delve into the mystery surrounding this unique prehistoric creature and answer the questions that many curious minds have pondered.

Judging by the LSC orientation in Nigersaurus, Sereno and company hypothesized that the animal usually walked around with its snout pointed to the ground at a degree angle. Sign up for our Newsletter! Paul Sereno Paleontologist. Scientific Reports. Though it had large nostrils and a fleshy snout, Sereno and colleagues found that Nigersaurus had an underdeveloped olfactory region of its brain and thus did not have an advanced sense of smell. The region of its brain that detected smell was underdeveloped, although its brain size was comparable to that of other dinosaurs. Gandititan Hamititan Huabeisaurus Jiangshanosaurus? Paul Sereno Additional Nigersaurus Images. Website Accessibility. Through a painstaking process, this team was able to reconstruct the inside of Nigersaurus' skull. Like all sauropods, Nigersaurus was a quadruped with a small head, thick hind legs, and a prominent tail. In contrast to Nigersaurus , sauropods with lower tooth replacement rates and broader tooth crowns are thought to have been canopy browsers.