Code dinosaur

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Meet Nigersaurus, one of the most unusual sauropods that lived 115 to 105 million years ago. Because of its unique lifestyle, paleontologists jokingly called it the cow of the Mesozoic era.

[00:00:10]Its remains were first found in Niger.

[00:00:12]Studying this dinosaur is incredibly difficult. Its bones are so thin and air-filled that the fossils easily crumble and light can literally shine through some parts of a skull. The first bones were described by Frenchman Philippe Taquet, after whom the species is named. The unique teeth have been compared the dinosaur to that of Darth Vader and its jaws to a vacuum cleaner and conveyor belt. By the standards of giant sauropods, Nigersaurus was quite modest, only 9 m long and weighing about 4 tons, similar to a modern elephant.

[00:00:40]Its skeleton was a marvel of natural engineering. The vertebrae consisted of the thinnest partitions creating air sacs to reduce weight. Pelvic bones were paper thin. Only the massive limbs remained extremely strong to support the body weight. Anatomy of its head is astonishing. Nigersaurus is the only known animal whose jaws were wider than the skull itself. They formed a perfect straight line for cutting grass like a modern lawnmower blade. Inside these jaws was a real conveyor belt. Under every working tooth, up to nine replacement teeth waited in the bone. In total, Nigersaurus had 500 teeth forming continuous dental batteries. Nigersaurus teeth wore down extremely fast, so nature created a mechanism. A new tooth replaced the old one in just 14 days.

[00:01:17]Additionally, the enamel on the outer side of a teeth was 10 times thicker.

[00:01:20]Despite huge nostrils, Nigersaurus had almost no sense of smell. The part of the brain responsible for it was underdeveloped. However, its rise top of a head providing 360° vision to spot danger in time. Scanning of the inner ear showed that the semicircular nails were oriented so the dinosaur's head naturally tilted downward at a 67° angle. Although some scientists debate if this was its constant posture, its jaw muscles were weak and bite force was the lowest among sauropods.

[00:01:45]Its diet consisted exclusively of soft, low-growing vegetation such as ferns.

[00:01:50]Living in the floodplains of ancient Niger was not easy. Nigersaurus shared its home with other giants, as well as dangerous neighbors. But Tikal had two terry theropods.