Nigersaurus

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***Nigersaurus*** is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that originated from Early Cretaceous Africa. A relatively small sauropod, *Nigersaurus* is available in the *Herbivore Dinosaur Pack* and can be unlocked by progressing through the Security Division on Isla Pena.

## Characteristics

Comparable in size to a modern African elephant, at around 14 meters in length and more than four tons in weight, *Nigersaurus* was a fairly small sauropod dinosaur (one of the smallest to have lived) in the Rebbachisauridae family from the Middle Cretaceous period, with a small head, relatively short neck, thick hind legs, and a prominent tail. Its name translates to "*Niger Lizard*", in reference to the location of its discovery, Niger in Africa. With large fenestrae and thin bones, its skull was specialized for feeding. Due to its short neck, it would have struggled to lift. Therefore, *Nigersaurus* likely browsed low-lying plants, rather than taller trees. *Nigersaurus* may have had a lot of air spaces in its bones, lowering the density of its skeleton. This adaptation could have reduced the energy required to move, an important quality for dinosaurs that inhabit tropical areas. This genus is notable for its teeth – its straight mouthed jaws were line with more than 500 long, thin teeth that it uses to tear plants from the ground. These teeth are rapidly replaced, more often than any other genus of dinosaur, around every two weeks.

The base genome of the *Nigersaurus* is brown skin with a lighter colored underbelly.

### Behaviour

*Nigersaurus* is a social sauropod that can live with a variety of other dinosaurs, including other sauropods, ornithomimosaurs, and hadrosaurs, due to its wide population stats. Unlike other sauropods, it cannot be housed with medium-sized and large carnivores, though it is safe with small carnivores such as *Dilophosaurus* and *Proceratosaurus*. Additionally, it is the only species of sauropod that eats from Ground Herbivore Feeders, which makes it a grazing animal. Like other sauropods, however, *Nigersaurus* enjoys palaeobotany benefits from Tree Ferns, Conifers, and Ginkgo plants.

## Paleontology

The first possible remains of *Nigersaurus* were unearthed by French paleontologist Philippe Taquet during an expedition to Gadoufaoua, Niger that spanned from 1965 to 1972, but the poor quality of the fossils meant that it wasn’t until the end of the 20th Century that the genus was officially recognized. In 1999, *Nigersaurus* was named by the American paleontologist Paul Sereno, the leader of an expeditions that recovered more material. The specific name taqueti pays homage to Taquet. The original skull is one of the first dinosaur specimens to be examined with a CT scan. These scans revealed that each cutting tooth in the skull had up to nine teeth stacked behind it, ready to replace any teeth that were worn out.

The most notable feature of it is its broad jaws with a flattened edge across its front. Inside these jaws were hundreds of small teeth arranged at the front of the jaws. This would have allowed the *Nigersaurus* to crop low growing vegetation and mash it down into with ease and has earned it the nickname the 'Mesozoic lawnmower'. A further adaptation was the structure of the inner ear indicates that the head was usually carried close to the ground. These features may have been an adaptation to the soft plants that grew during the Early Cretaceous, as the continents continued to break apart and the climate became wetter, compared to the drier conditions of the Late Jurassic.

*Nigersaurus* is a member of the Rebbachisauridae family, an evolutionary offshoot of the Diplodocimorpha. These sauropods generally had short necks and tails and teeth more akin to hadrosaurs and ceratopsians rather than sauropods. They lived between the Late Jurassic and early stages of the Late Cretaceous and could be found on almost every continent.

### Paleoecology

*Nigersaurus* lived during the Early Cretaceous period, around 100-120 million years ago, and roamed parts of North and Central Africa, specifically Niger. Feeding on plants and ferns at ground level, it tended to live in and around riverbanks, forests, and inland floodplains where water and food were plentiful. It is possible that *Nigersaurus* was one of the more common dinosaurs in its habitat, based on the frequency at which fossils are discovered. Therefore, *Nigersaurus* shared its habitat alongside the ornithopod *Ouranosaurus*, the spinosaurid *Suchomimus*, and the massive crocodilian *Sarcosuchus*. *Nigersaurus* likely fed on plants that needed lots of water to grow. It is possible that *Nigersaurus* was one of the more common dinosaurs in its habitat, based on the frequency at which fossils are discovered.

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