No dentist, no problem: How this two-ton dinosaur replaced its teeth every two weeks
First discovered in the deserts of Niger, it would take 30 years to realize that the bones discovered were a new dinosaur species that had some surprises.
During the Cretaceous period 110 millions of years ago the world looked a lot different than it does to today. The continents were accelerating their drifting away from each other after the breakup of Gondwana and large areas of them were covered by warm shallow seas as sea levels were much higher than they are today.
There is fossil evidence of rainforests near the poles and what is today the world’s largest hot desert was covered in rivers, lakes and abundant vegetation. The latter was home to a number of incredible dinosaurs that were discovered thanks to work done by French paleontologist Philippe Taquet.
Between 1965 and 1972 he found a number of bonebeds in Niger, but it wouldn’t be until three decades later that research by another team of paleontologists using modern technology would reveal the secrets of one unique creature. The Nigersaurus taqueti, which is named after the country where it was discovered and Taquet, had a very special set of teeth and despite its size was light on its feet.
The hoover herbivore of the prehistoric Sahara
Roughly 110 million years ago, in what is today the Republic of Niger, Nigersaurus, a type of sauropod, roamed the land grazing as it went with its mouth shaped like a vacuum cleaner. It was not particularly picky, eating tough low-lying vegetation that was loaded with grit and sand.
A diet made from this kind of roughage is incredibly hard on teeth, but that wasn’t a problem for Nigersaurus as it had a special trait. While all dinosaurs replaced their teeth, this one evolved to do so at a highly accelerated rate.
Fossil remains of this particular sauropod indicate that it replaced each of its 500 teeth every two weeks allowing it to endlessly feast on the lush green meadows. How do paleontologists know this? Tiny lines form each day as dinosaur teeth form, much like tree rings do each year.
“Counting those lines tells you how old the teeth are,” Jeff Wilson Mantilla told National Geographic. He explained that Nigersaurus had seven rows of backup teeth forming at any one time behind the one that was exposed.
A giant that was light on its feet
The Nigersaurus measured 30 feet from snout to the tip of its tail and weighed two tons, roughly as much as an adult African forest elephant. Despite its size though, its bones were very delicate and thin, so thin in fact that “light could shine through them,” explains National Geographic.
Its bones were similar to those of birds in that they were hollow, filled with air sacs, which allowed the dinosaur to get so big without developing bulky bones.
While no complete skeleton has been found, paleontologists were able to make a reconstruction of the Nigersaurus with the use of modern technology. Using CT scans of bones that had been collected, scientists were able to adjust them to the same scale and assemble them together.
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