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Medium-sized sauropod with a short neck and a broad square muzzle, in side view
Life reconstruction of Nigersaurus taqueti, a low-browsing sauropod from the Elrhaz Formation of Niger.图片来源：TotalDino, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 4.0来源（在新标签页中打开）

Nigersaurus taqueti

读音： nee-ZHER-sore-us tah-KET-eye

Sauropoda · Rebbachisauridae

A small rebbachisaurid sauropod from the Early Cretaceous of Niger with a broad, straight-edged muzzle packed with hundreds of teeth that were replaced very quickly: a Cretaceous lawnmower.

  • Quadrupedal
  • Long necked
  • Unusual anatomy
对比
时代
白垩纪· 阿普特阶
食性
植食性
体长
9 m
体重
1,900–4,000 kg
地点
Agadez Region, Niger

快速问答

Nigersaurus taqueti有多大？
Nigersaurus taqueti体长约9 m。髋部高约1.6–2 m。体重约1.9–4 t。 (Sereno et al. 1999; Sereno et al. 2007)
Nigersaurus taqueti生活在什么时候？
Nigersaurus taqueti生活在早白垩世，约1.214亿至1.005亿年前。 (Cohen et al. 2023; Sereno et al. 1999)
在哪里发现过Nigersaurus taqueti的化石？
Nigersaurus taqueti的化石发现于Elrhaz Formation (Agadez Region)和Niger。 (Sereno et al. 1999; Sereno et al. 2007)
Nigersaurus taqueti吃什么？
Nigersaurus taqueti是植食性。 (Sereno et al. 1999; Sereno et al. 2007)
Nigersaurus taqueti由谁命名，何时命名？
Nigersaurus taqueti由Paul C. Sereno et al.于1999年描述。 (Sereno et al. 1999; Sereno et al. 2007)

本页内容

nee-ZHER-sore-us tah-KET-eye

时代
白垩纪121.4–100.5 Ma
食性
植食性
体长
9 m
体重
1.9–4 t
产地
Niger
分类
Sauropoda · Rebbachisauridae
命名
1999, Paul C. Sereno et al.

概览

此内容目前仅提供英文版。

Nigersaurus taqueti lived in what is now the Sahara of Niger in the Early Cretaceous, when the region was a land of rivers and floodplains. French expeditions led by Philippe Taquet found its first bones in the 1960s and 1970s at Gadoufaoua; Paul Sereno's team collected better material in the 1990s and named it in 1999.

For a sauropod it was small, about 9 m long. Its skull was extremely light, with paper-thin bones, and its jaws ended in a wide, straight muzzle lined with more than 500 teeth in columns, each replaced every few weeks. Sereno et al. (2007) argued it grazed close to the ground.

Many of these interpretations are debated: the head posture reconstructed from its inner ear, and the exact tooth replacement rate, which D'Emic et al. (2013) estimated from growth lines in the teeth.

名称含义

"Niger lizard"; taqueti honours French paleontologist Philippe Taquet, who led the first expeditions to its site (Sereno et al. 1999).

生物学与证据

科学家对这种动物生活方式的看法，以及每种观点的证据有多充分。

进食

  • Nigersaurus grazed close to the ground.

    证据等级：中等证据

    Its wide, straight muzzle and fast-wearing teeth suit cropping low plants such as ferns or horsetails. A downward head posture was reconstructed from the inner ear, but that method is debated.

    支持 / 反对证据 · 2
    支持证据

    • 标本 · Nigersaurus tooth batteries

      Jaws with a straight front edge lined with columns of replacement teeth, more than 500 teeth in all.

      标本： MNN GAD512

    • 比较解剖学 · Nigersaurus inner ear and head posture

      CT scans of the inner ear, used to reconstruct the habitual head posture as pointing down.

      标本： MNN GAD512

牙齿

  • Nigersaurus replaced its teeth faster than any other known dinosaur.

    证据等级：有力证据

    Each tooth position held a column of up to ten replacement teeth, and growth lines show a new tooth came into use every few weeks.

    支持 / 反对证据 · 2
    支持证据

    • 标本 · Nigersaurus tooth batteries

      Jaws with a straight front edge lined with columns of replacement teeth, more than 500 teeth in all.

      标本： MNN GAD512

    • 组织学 · Nigersaurus tooth growth lines

      Daily growth lines in the teeth used to calculate how often each tooth was replaced.

其他

  • Nigersaurus had an extremely light skeleton full of air spaces.

    证据等级：直接证据

    Its skull bones are thin enough to see light through and its vertebrae are hollowed by air sacs, observed directly in the fossils.

    支持 / 反对证据 · 1
    支持证据

    • 标本 · Nigersaurus air-filled skeleton

      Very thin skull bones and vertebrae hollowed by air sacs, making the skeleton exceptionally light.

      标本： MNN GAD512

Dental battery of Nigersaurus reconstructed from CT scans, showing the rows of replacement teeth across its wide muzzle (Sereno et al. 2007).图片来源：Sereno et al http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0001230, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 2.5来源（在新标签页中打开）

体型

体长
9 m

（29.5 英尺）

身高
1.8 m文献范围 1.6–2 m

（5.9 英尺）

依据 MNN GAD512 and referred material

体重
1,900–4,000 kg
Nigersaurus taqueti 体长约 9 米（29.5 英尺），约为身高 1.8 米的成年人的 5 倍。

时间线

生活在约 121.4 至 100.5 百万年前（Ma），属于中生代（252–66 Ma）。

时代： 阿普特阶 (121.4–113 Ma), 阿尔布阶 (113–100.5 Ma), 早白垩世 (145–100.5 Ma)

Ages are the ICS 2023/09 bounds of the Aptian and Albian, the stage(s) the fossils are assigned to; they bracket the record and are not dated first/last appearances. The Elrhaz Formation is usually cited as about 115-105 Ma.

产地

地层

地图数据：Natural Earth（公有领域）。显示的是现代位置，而非当时大陆的位置。

这些是发现化石的地点，而不是该动物生活的全部范围。

生态系统

Elrhaz Formation scene with a Nigersaurus herd and two spinosaurids fishing.图片来源：Андрей Белов, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 3.0来源（在新标签页中打开）

生活于： Elrhaz (Gadoufaoua)

115–105 百万年前 · 河流水系, 泛滥平原, 沼泽 / 湿地

Early Cretaceous rivers and swampy floodplains in what is now the Ténéré desert of Niger, with abundant crocodyliforms and fish.

同一生态系统

Suchomimus tenerensis

白垩纪· 阿普特阶食鱼性肉食性

分类

  1. 演化支Dinosauria
  2. 演化支Saurischia
  3. 演化支Sauropodomorpha
  4. 演化支Sauropoda
  5. 总科Diplodocoidea
  6. 科Rebbachisauridae
  7. 属Nigersaurus
  8. 种Nigersaurus taqueti

分类地位： 有效

化石记录

Cast of the Nigersaurus taqueti skull MNN GAD512 on display at the Royal Ontario Museum.图片来源：CaptMondo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (unmodified except resizing), Royal Ontario MuseumCC BY-SA 3.0（未修改）来源（在新标签页中打开）
标本
编号类型收藏机构发现年份
MNN GAD512正模标本Musée National Boubou Hama (MNN)—

已发现的部分

正模标本: MNN GAD512

  • 保存
  • 部分保存
  • 复原
  • 未知 / 未记录
按部位查看（表格）
正模标本: MNN GAD512 的骨骼部位
部位状态
Skull部分保存
Mandible保存
Teeth保存
Cervical vertebrae部分保存
Dorsal vertebrae未知 / 未记录
Sacrum未知 / 未记录
Caudal vertebrae未知 / 未记录
Ribs未知 / 未记录
Gastralia未知 / 未记录
Scapula / shoulder girdle未知 / 未记录
Humerus未知 / 未记录
Forearm (radius / ulna)未知 / 未记录
Hand (manus)未知 / 未记录
Pelvis未知 / 未记录
Femur未知 / 未记录
Tibia / fibula未知 / 未记录
Foot (pes)未知 / 未记录
Skeletal reconstruction of Nigersaurus taqueti with preserved bones and vertebrae in detail (Sereno et al. 2007).图片来源：Carol Abraczinskas, Paul C. Sereno et al., CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia CommonsCC BY 2.5来源（在新标签页中打开）

全部标本

发现

命名年份
1999
命名者
Paul C. Sereno et al.
模式标本
MNN GAD512

发现时间线

  1. 1965 · 首次发现材料

    Taquet's expeditions find the first Nigersaurus bones

    French expeditions led by Philippe Taquet collect sauropod remains at Gadoufaoua (1965-1972).

    人物：Philippe Taquet

  2. 1999 · 正式命名

    Sereno et al. name Nigersaurus taqueti

    Named in a paper on Cretaceous sauropods of the Sahara.

    人物：Paul C. Sereno

  3. 2007 · 重要研究

    Skull of Nigersaurus reconstructed

    CT scans reveal the extreme skull and tooth batteries.

    人物：Paul C. Sereno

参考文献

  1. Cohen, K. M., Harper, D. A. T., Gibbard, P. L. & Car, N. (2023). International Chronostratigraphic Chart (v2023/09). International Commission on Stratigraphy. https://stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/ChronostratChart2023-09.pdf（在新标签页中打开）
  2. D'Emic, M. D., Whitlock, J. A., Smith, K. M., Fisher, D. C. & Wilson, J. A. (2013). Evolution of high tooth replacement rates in sauropod dinosaurs. PLoS ONE 8(7): e69235. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0069235（在新标签页中打开）
  3. Paul, G. S. (2016). The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs (2nd edition). Princeton University Press.
  4. Sereno, P. C., Beck, A. L., Dutheil, D. B., et al. (1999). Cretaceous sauropods from the Sahara and the uneven rate of skeletal evolution among dinosaurs. Science 286: 1342-1347. doi:10.1126/science.286.5443.1342（在新标签页中打开）
  5. Sereno, P. C., Wilson, J. A., Witmer, L. M., Whitlock, J. A., Maga, A., Ide, O. & Rowe, T. A. (2007). Structural extremes in a Cretaceous dinosaur. PLoS ONE 2(11): e1230. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001230（在新标签页中打开）