Genus
Valid Extinct

Nigersaurus

Sereno et al. 1999
Etymology Reptile Nigérian

Nigersaurus is a genus of rebbachisaurid sauropod dinosaur that lived during the middle Cretaceous period, about 115 to 105 million years ago. It was discovered in the Elrhaz Formation in an area called Gadoufaoua, in Niger. Fossils of this dinosaur were first described in 1976, but it was only named Nigersaurus taqueti in 1999 after further and more complete remains were found and described. The genus name means "Niger reptile", and the specific name honours the palaeontologist Philippe Taquet, who discovered the first remains.

Temporal range
Triassic
Jurassic
Cretaceous
Paleogene
Neogene
252 201 145 66 0 Ma
PBDB occurrences
3
Group
Dinosaures
Herbivore Ground dwelling, gregarious Terrestrial
Nigersaurus
click to enlarge
Nigersaurus - 01 (possibly National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo) © Kabacchi · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia
PBDB ↗ Wikipedia ↗
Classification
Dinosauria Unranked clade
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Saurischia Unranked clade
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Sauropodomorpha Unranked clade
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Massopoda Unranked clade
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Sauropodiformes Unranked clade
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Sauropoda Unranked clade
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Gravisauria Unranked clade
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Eusauropoda Unranked clade
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Neosauropoda Unranked clade
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Diplodocoidea Unranked clade
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Diplodocimorpha Unranked clade
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Rebbachisauridae Unranked clade
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Khebbashia Unranked clade
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Rebbachisaurinae Unranked clade
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Nigersaurus Genus
Fossil sites 3 geolocated sites
Distribution
Top countries
🇳🇪 Niger
3
Geological formations
Elrhaz
3
Temporal distribution
Albian (113.2–100.5 Ma)
2
Aptian (121.4–113.2 Ma)
1
Species (1)
Nigersaurus taqueti 121 Ma
Images 2
Bibliography
Original description
P. C. Sereno, A. L. Beck, and D. B. Dutheil, H. C. E. Larsson, G. H. Lyon, B. Moussa, R. W. Sadleir, C. A. Sidor, D. J. Varricchio, G. P. Wilson, J. A. Wilson. 1999. Cretaceous sauropods from the Sahara and the uneven rate of skeletal evolution among dinosaurs. Science 286:1342-1347 DOI ↗
Bibliography (2)
R. Lefebvre, R. Allain, and A. Houssaye. 2023. What’s inside a sauropod limb? First three-dimensional investigation of the limb long bone microanatomy of a sauropod dinosaur, Nigersaurus taqueti (Neosauropoda, Rebbachisauridae), and implications for the weight-bearing function. Palaeontology DOI ↗
P. C. Sereno, A. L. Beck, and D. B. Dutheil, H. C. E. Larsson, G. H. Lyon, B. Moussa, R. W. Sadleir, C. A. Sidor, D. J. Varricchio, G. P. Wilson, J. A. Wilson. 1999. Cretaceous sauropods from the Sahara and the uneven rate of skeletal evolution among dinosaurs. Science 286:1342-1347 DOI ↗