Introduction:
The Nigersaurus became an internet viral meme sensation after the meme from Reddit, “don’t google the internet with what dinosaur has 500 teeth,” broke the internet. Often, a simple google auto-suggestion invokes some bizarre events. That ignite interest in a particular matter or subject among the masses. The case of the Nigersaurus is also the same. This carnivorous dinosaur, which lived 115 million years ago in the Republic of Niger, a small country in West Africa, was nothing like the meme! So, what did this unique dinosaur look like during its prime time? And how was it discover? Well, here we are offering a brief discussion on this famed “what dinosaur has 500 teeth.”
In his on-line journal Sereno created associate degree entry on Gregorian calendar month nine, 2000- “Nigersaurus, you may bear in mind, we tend to named for bones collected on the last expedition here 3 years past. This sauropod dinosaur (long-necked dinosaur) has associate degree uncommon bone containing five hundred slender teeth. a significant goal of this expedition is to seek out the remainder of this uncommon archosaurian reptile therefore we are able to describe it and reconstruct it for everybody to see”
He additionally gave a close discussion on however the team discovered this distinctive archosaurian reptile with five hundred teeth. As per his description, “While walking across a really flat space, Gabe created a noteworthy find—the bones of a replacement phytophilous archosaurian reptile lay partly exposed at her feet. She brushed away the sand from the upper jawbone. close lay a part of the backbone and also the hip bones. This was a mean customer—the bones area unit} from a skeleton that will measure regarding thirty feet long! we tend to hope to seek out additional proof of this sharp-toothed creature because the field season goes on.”
Some other fossils associated with this archosaurian reptile with five hundred teeth were additionally discovered in Brazil. But, an entire fossil continues to be to be unearthed. Hence, constructing an entire skeleton of the famous Nigersaurus was not possible. however, paleontologists are attempting their best to travel into elaborate analysis to seek out additional regarding this explicit animal of the traditional millennia.
Why the name?
Nigersaurus has become a subject for net memes because of its peculiar name. But, if you look closely, the name could be a scientific means of naming dinosaurs. This archosaurian has the scientific name Nigersaurus taqueti below the genus “Nigersaurus”, which implies “Niger craniate” or a reptile from Niger(republic of niger).
Did it have five hundred teeth?
Well, it did technically. Nigersaurus had a os with five hundred slender teeth. Nut, all of those teeth weren’t permanent. the overall five hundred teeth Nigersaurus had were composed of permanent and replacement teeth!
What did this archosaurian with five hundred teeth look like?
In short, Nigersaurus is comparable to the Sauropods. It wont to have a smaller head with ticker hind legs and a tail like several different archosaurian. it absolutely was solely nine m tall with a leg bone of one m. As per paleontologists, they have to have weighed four tons. Hence, a Nigersaurus might have had a contemporary elephant’s similar height and weight. because of its bodily structure, it’s a brief neck with solely 13 cervical vertebrae.
Its skull
Nigersaurus has four openings in its os, referred to as opening, a lot of important than different dinosaurs with longer necks. But, the os was sturdy enough to resist the cutting of the five hundred teeth. It additionally had bony and elongated nostrils.
Their snouts were shorter. But, apparently, Nigersaurus had shorter snouts. Their tooth row wasn’t prognathic, and their snot tip was proportional to the tooth series. Another distinct feature of the Nigersaurus was that their elongated os was gone with a marked depression within the cerebral section. in addition, their jaw tooth was additionally revolved with identical submaxilla rotation. This distinctive attribute allowed their mouth to accommodate all the five hundred teeth throughout their mouth.
Their teeth were ideally designed for his or her carnivorous angle. The lower teeth were 20-30% smaller than the upper jawbone teeth. In addition, the teeth had arcuate tooth crowns and asymmetrical enamels (thicker on the outside). It allowed them to tear plants from ground level.
Body
Paul Sereno delineate this archosaur as Associate in Nursing ancient crocodilian. It had armor plates placed on its back for one foot. It’s heavily puncture os arches with thick attention-grabbing laminae between the gas openings. The vertebrae of its tail failed to go together with any solid centra. Its girdle and pectoral progle bones were solely some millimeters thick. Like every alternative sauropods or elongated dinosaurs, it conjointly had strong limbs. The front lends could are common fraction of the hind legs, a definite feature of dinosaur.
