Topic
Nigersaurus
About: Nigersaurus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 8 publications have been published within this topic receiving 533 citations.
Papers
TL;DR: Skeletal and dental evidence suggests that Nigersaurus was a ground-level herbivore that gathered and sliced relatively soft vegetation, the culmination of a low-browsing feeding strategy first established among diplodocoids during the Jurassic.
Abstract: Fossils of the Early Cretaceous dinosaur, Nigersaurus taqueti, document for the first time the cranial anatomy of a rebbachisaurid sauropod. Its extreme adaptations for herbivory at ground-level challenge current hypotheses regarding feeding function and feeding strategy among diplodocoids, the larger clade of sauropods that includes Nigersaurus. We used high resolution computed tomography, stereolithography, and standard molding and casting techniques to reassemble the extremely fragile skull. Computed tomography also allowed us to render the first endocast for a sauropod preserving portions of the olfactory bulbs, cerebrum and inner ear, the latter permitting us to establish habitual head posture. To elucidate evidence of tooth wear and tooth replacement rate, we used photographic-casting techniques and crown thin sections, respectively. To reconstruct its 9-meter postcranial skeleton, we combined and size-adjusted multiple partial skeletons. Finally, we used maximum parsimony algorithms on character data to obtain the best estimate of phylogenetic relationships among diplodocoid sauropods. Nigersaurus taqueti shows extreme adaptations for a dinosaurian herbivore including a skull of extremely light construction, tooth batteries located at the distal end of the jaws, tooth replacement as fast as one per month, an expanded muzzle that faces directly toward the ground, and hollow presacral vertebral centra with more air sac space than bone by volume. A cranial endocast provides the first reasonably complete view of a sauropod brain including its small olfactory bulbs and cerebrum. Skeletal and dental evidence suggests that Nigersaurus was a ground-level herbivore that gathered and sliced relatively soft vegetation, the culmination of a low-browsing feeding strategy first established among diplodocoids during the Jurassic.
313 citations
TL;DR: In this article, CT scans of the type braincase of Limaysaurus tessonei (MUCPv-205) allowed the first study of the endocranial cavities (brain and inner ear) for this South American taxon.
Abstract: CT scans of the type braincase of Limaysaurus tessonei (MUCPv-205) allowed the first study of the endocranial cavities (brain and inner ear) for this South American taxon Comparisons of the cranial endocast of L tessonei with other sauropods indicate that 1) South American rebbachisaurids are more similar to each other than to Nigersaurus, and 2) certain association of traits are present in all known rebbachisaurid cranial endocasts, such as lack of an enlarged dorsal expansion, poorly laterally projected cerebral hemispheres, presence of a small flocculus of the cerebellum, markedly long passage for the facial nerve (CN VII), markedly inclined pituitary, and presence of a passage for the basilar artery communicating the floor of the endocranial cavity and the pituitary fossa The relatively enlarged olfactory region indicates that smell was an important sense for this group of dinosaurs, suggesting different olfactory capabilities when compared to coeval titanosaurs
TL;DR: Demandasaurus darwini gen. et sp. nov as mentioned in this paper was the first diplodocoid sauropod described from the Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula.
Abstract: A new medium-sized rebbachisaurid sauropod from the Castrillo la Reina Formation (Upper Barremian-Lower Aptian) in Burgos Province, Demandasaurus darwini gen. et sp. nov., is described. It is known from an incomplete but associated skeleton that includes cranial and post-cranial remains. Demandasaurus darwini gen. et sp. nov. presents 9 autapomorphies in the teeth and vertebrae. Demandasaurus is the first diplodocoid sauropod described from the Cretaceous of the Iberian Peninsula. Its inclusion in the Rebbachisauridae is well supported by our phylogenetic hypothesis, which situates it as a sister group of Nigersaurus from the Aptian of Niger, with which it shares various synapomorphies. The discovery of Demandasaurus provides further evidence of the sporadic use of the Apulian Route by dinosaurs during the Early Cretaceous for moving between the south of Europe (Laurasia) and the north of Africa (Gondwana).
TL;DR: A new phylogenetic analysis is presented that resolves many of the outstanding questions regarding the relationships within Diplodocoidea and examines palaeobiogeographical trends within the group.
16 Dec 2005
TL;DR: Sereno et al. as mentioned in this paper described the tooth-bearing bones and dental battery of Nigersaurus taqueti and provided an initial cranial reconstruction, and outlined the feeding specializations common to diplodocoids and how these were modified within rebbachisaurids.
Abstract: dinosaurs rose to predominance among vertebrate herbivores, in terms of both species diversity and biomass (e.g., Romer 1966; McIntosh 1990). Their perceived decline on northern landmasses during the Cretaceous has been linked to the evolution of tooth batteries in ornithischian herbivores (e.g., Lull and Wright 1942; Ostrom 1961; Bakker 1978; Lucas and Hunt 1989). On southern landmasses, in contrast, sauropod diversity increased during the Cretaceous (Weishampel 1990; Hunt et al. 1994), and a newly discovered southern sauropod, the rebbachisaurid Nigersaurus taqueti, is now known to have evolved a complex tooth battery (Sereno et al. 1999). Rebbachisaurids are a poorly known sauropod clade, reported thus far only from Cretaceous rocks in South America (Calvo and Salgado 1995; Bonaparte 1996; Apestiguia et al. 2001; Lamanna et al. 2001), Africa (Lavocat 1954; Taquet 1976; Sereno et al. 1999), and Europe (Dalla Vecchia 1998; Pereda-Suberbiola et al. 2003). Many of these are fragmentary finds, leaving much of the skeletal anatomy of this group in question, especially the skull. In this chapter, we describe the tooth-bearing bones and dental battery of Nigersaurus taqueti and provide an initial cranial reconstruction. We outline the feeding specializations common to diplodocoids and how these were modified within rebbachisaurids. Institutional Abbreviation: MNN, Musee National du Niger, Niamey.
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
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| 2021 | 1 |
| 2018 | 1 |
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2011 | 3 |
| 2007 | 1 |
| 2005 | 1 |