Nigersaurus

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Nigersaurus

ZooTek Phoenix
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Author: Moondawg

Keywords: extinct animals, dinosaurs

Date Released: Jan 11 2009

Current NigersaurusMD_2009.ztd dated 10 January 2009

File Size: 8.33mb

Compatibility: DD and CC

Description: Nigersaurus (meaning "Niger lizard") was a relatively small sauropod (15 meters long) that was described in 1999, and which lived in the middle Cretaceous period, about 119-99 million years ago.
It is one of the most common genera found in the rich fossil vertebrate fauna of the Elrhaz Formation, Gadoufaoua, in the Niger Republic, discovered by Philippe Taquet, and described in a paper published in 1976. Like other sauropods from what used to be Gondwana, it had a shorter neck than Laurasian sauropods like Barosaurus. Nigersaurus had to protect itself from carnivores such as Sarcosuchus.

Nigersaurus (meaning "Niger lizard") is a genus of diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur from the middle Cretaceous period, about 119 to 99 million years ago during the Aptian or Albian age. This dinosaur was described by Paul Sereno and colleagues in 1999. It is one of the most common genera found in the rich fossil vertebrate fauna of the Elrhaz Formation, Gadoufaoua, in the Niger Republic, discovered by Philippe Taquet, and described in a paper published in 1976.

Nigersaurus was a plant-eater that had an unusual mouth "shaped like the wide intake slot of a vacuum" that took in food and over a hundred very small, sharp teeth for chewing. Previously, such tooth batteries have been known only in hadrosaur and ceratopsian dinosaurs, but the discovery of Nigersaurus showed that at least one sauropod lineage, the rebbachisaurids, had them, as well.

Like other sauropods from what used to be Gondwana, it had a shorter neck than Laurasian sauropods like Barosaurus. Despite these stockier proportions, Nigersaurus reached about 9 meters (29.5 ft) in length. At nine meters in length, Nigersaurus was smaller than other members of the Rebbachisaur family, such as Rebbachisaurus itself, a large animal with a distinctive low spinal ridge on its back. Nigersaurus, although smaller, had a similar ridge, which in life would have consisted of skin and perhaps also flesh stretched across elongate neural spines in the vertebrae.

Although a common genus, Nigersaurus had been poorly known until 2005, because of the delicate and highly pneumatic (filled with air spaces) construction of the skull and skeleton, which means that the fossil remains have been disarticulated. Sereno and Jeffrey A. Wilson in 2005 provided the first description of the skull and feeding adaptations. Nigersaurus had as many as 500 or 600 teeth in its shovel-shaped head. Like the earlier diplodicids, its head was oriented downwards and was best suited for low level browsing.

According to the New York Times, an article published in the Public Library of Science (PLoS) in late November 2007 details the unique anatomy of Nigersaurus. The genus is reported to have had a relatively short neck with the head oriented towards the ground; it is thought to have been a ground-level browser like a modern cow. The Times reports:

"In contrast to other plant-eating dinosaurs, this one had more than 50 columns of teeth, all lined up along the jaws' front edges, forming, in effect, foot-long scissors. The CT scans of the jawbones showed up to nine replacement teeth stacked behind each cutting tooth. When one wore out, another immediately took its place, at a rate, perhaps, of one a month in each column. 'Among dinosaurs,' Dr. Sereno said, 'Nigersaurus sets the Guinness record for tooth replacement.'"

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Additional info:

NigersaurusMD_2009.ztd                                  uca: 191D4985 dated 10 January 2009

Results From Configuration Checking:

191d4985.uca date: Sat Jan 10 21:41:46 2009
No Errors or Warnings to show.
Animal Type: 191D4985

Nigersaurus

It is one of the most common genera found in the rich fossil vertebrate fauna
of the Elrhaz Formation, Gadoufaoua, in the Niger Republic, discovered by
Philippe Taquet, and described in a paper published in 1976. Like other
sauropods from what used to be Gondwana, it had a shorter neck than Laurasian
sauropods like Barosaurus. Nigersaurus had to protect itself from carnivores
such as Sarcosuchus.
    (plus 5 other paragraphs)

Animal Characteristics:

Habitat: Deciduous Forest; Location: Africa; Era: Cretaceous
Minimum happiness needed for chance of breeding: 97.
Animal can jump.
Animal can climb cliffs.
Cannot be used in original Zoo Tycoon: cKeeperFoodType (8) is not 0 to 5.

Exhibit Preferences:

Foliage:
Wild Olive Tree, Elm Tree, Pacific Dogwood Tree, Cherry Tree, Maple Tree
Thornless Mesquite Tree, Birch Tree, Trembling Aspen Tree, Globe Willow Tree
Japanese Maple Tree, Deciduous Bush, Weeping Willow Tree, White Oak Tree
Broadleaf Bush, Gingko Tree (DD), Glossopteris Tree (DD), Magnolia Tree (DD)
Monkey Puzzle Tree (DD), Williamsonia Tree (DD), Bonsai (CC)
Snowbell Tree (CC)

Rocks:
Large Rock, Large Rock - 1, Large Rock - 2, Large Rock - 3, Large Rock - 4
Small Rock - Medium, Small Rock - Small, Small Rock - 7, Small Rock - 8
Small Rock - 9, Deciduous Forest Rock - Formation

Exhibit Construction:

Number of animals allowed per exhibit: 1-3 with 100 squares for each adult.

Exhibit size (for 2 adults): 200 grid squares

Terrain (for exhibit with 200 grid squares):
140 Deciduous Floor, 20 Dirt, 20 Fresh Water, 20 Grass

Foliage (for exhibit with 200 grid squares):
12 grid squares should contain foliage.
Foliage that would give the most happiness: Magnolia Tree (DD)
Since this is a small plant, greatest happiness will occur
if each of the 12 grid squares contains 4 of this plant.

Rocks (for exhibit with 200 grid squares):
16 Small Rock - Small, which is its most liked rock.

Elevation: Of the 200 squares, 5 nonadjacent squares should be elevated.