You’ve probably heard of the Nigersaurus, but do you know what dinosaur has 500 teeth? This giant herbivore was about 30 feet long, and its massive teeth would have acted like combs. Its massive teeth would have been helpful for browsing plants and would be found still living in Africa today. In fact, it’s still alive! This article will learn how the Nigersaurus obtained its name and how many teeth it had.
Know as Nige lizard
Nigersaurus, also known as the Nige lizard, lived around 110 million years ago and had a mouth with 500 teeth. It was named after a titanosaur skeleton discovered in Tanzania in 1932. Its teeth are made of many different styles, including a short, narrow canine and an enlarged metacarpal II. It survived on a vegetarian diet and is categorized as a herbivore.
The name Nigersaurus comes from the country that it lived in, Niger. This dinosaur had very sharp teeth used to trim food close to the ground. Its name sounds like a joke, but it was actually meant to raise awareness for the species. Unlike other dinosaurs, Nigersaurus’ teeth were adapted for this task. It was also known as Nigersaurus Taqueti. Sadly, this dinosaur’s image has been taken down from the internet due to controversy, but the name is still very much alive.
Similar to crocodiles
If you want to know which dinosaur had the most teeth, Nigersaurus has 500 of them. It had twenty to 26 spikes on its tail, similar to crocodiles today. It also had a foreleg identical to that of modern crocodiles. Nigersaurus’ feet also had spike-like pads on the front and back, and researchers believe the spike-like feet helped it defend itself.
The “What dinosaur has 500 teeth?” joke originated as a Reddit thread that quickly gained popularity. In the thread, people were trying to correct the person’s pronunciation and even made racist remarks. The video gained over six thousand views. Eventually, other people took up the challenge and published a video based on the meme. The video’s popularity skyrocketed. However, the topic gained traction with different types of video reactions.
Herbivore
The Nigersaurus is a very interesting herbivore with 500 teeth. Its jaws were different from those of other sauropod dinosaurs, and its body structure was similar to a lizard. It had a long neck, too, similar to a giraffe’s. It is part of the Dicynodont dinosaur family, which was a type of sauropod.
It is very easy to mistake this question with freedom of speech. However, some people argue that it is racist. However, the truth is that it was an innocent mistake that spread quickly. In a recent Facebook post, a person asked, “What dinosaur has the most teeth?” and replied, “What about the black one?” The user later removed the post. People often confuse jokes with freedom of speech, but they should not be confused with this.
Unique tooth structure
In addition to its large size, Nigersaurus had a unique tooth structure. Its upper and lower jaws contained 68 and 60 needle-like pillars. These pillars would replace the teeth that had fallen out. This allowed the dinosaur to keep hundreds of teeth on a double edge. This would allow them to graze in a very precise pattern. This would have made it possible for Nigersaurus to eat many different types of food without breaking their teeth.
The Nigersaurus had at least 500 teeth and had more than one thousand pairs of them. It was also one of the giant sauropods, and its carapace and foot were between two and four meters long. It weighed about 2.3 tons and belonged to the “spinosaurid” group. It also had an 8-foot-long tail and a long neck, which was narrow at the top and wide at the base.
Fact
While Nigersaurus had more than 500 teeth, its wide mouth is the most well-known fact about it. Its broad mouth and nose made it perfect for collecting foods in the Sahara Desert. Paleontologist Paul Sereno likened the face of the Nigersaurus to the teeth of a vacuum cleaner. The recreated bones show that they were similar. That’s not surprising, considering that it’s a reconstructed bone!