Dinosaurs exhibited an extraordinary range of adaptations in their feeding mechanisms. While many are known for their powerful jaws and tearing teeth, some ancient herbivores developed unique dental structures for processing plant matter. Among them was a dinosaur with an unprecedented number of teeth, designed for a very specific grazing lifestyle.
Meet the Multitooth Dinosaur
The dinosaur with the remarkable dental arsenal was Nigersaurus taqueti, a sauropod that roamed the Earth approximately 115 to 105 million years ago during the middle Cretaceous period. This long-necked, four-legged herbivore measured about 9 meters (30 feet) in length, making it relatively small for a sauropod. Weighing between 1.9 and 4 tons, its size was comparable to that of a modern elephant. Nigersaurus stood out due to its unusually broad, straight-edged muzzle, which housed over 500 teeth.
The Dental Factory: How 500 Teeth Worked
The exceptional dental arrangement of Nigersaurus was a sophisticated system known as a dental battery. Each of its numerous teeth was organized in columns of 5 to 10 replacement teeth stacked beneath the active tooth. As the functional tooth wore down, a new tooth from the column below would rapidly move into place. This continuous replacement system was efficient, with each tooth replaced approximately every 14 days, the fastest known rate for any dinosaur.
The broad, shovel-shaped snout of Nigersaurus was uniquely adapted for its feeding strategy. Its tooth-bearing bones were rotated transversely, positioning all its teeth far to the front of its mouth, creating a wide, vacuum-like structure. This configuration allowed the upper and lower teeth to shear past each other, effectively cropping low-lying vegetation. The enamel on its teeth was asymmetrical, ten times thicker on the outer side, which helped withstand the abrasive nature of its diet.
A Grazing Giant of Ancient Africa
Nigersaurus was a ground-level herbivore, often referred to as the “Mesozoic cow” due to its specialized grazing habits. Its diet consisted of soft, low-lying plants such as ferns, horsetails, and early flowering plants, as grass had not yet evolved. Evidence suggests its head was habitually oriented downwards, allowing it to efficiently skim vegetation close to the ground.
This dinosaur lived in what is now the Republic of Niger in West Africa. During the middle Cretaceous period, this region was a lush, green environment with braided rivers and floodplains. Fossils of Nigersaurus were first described in 1976 following discoveries by French paleontologist Philippe Taquet, with more complete remains later found by American paleontologist Paul Sereno in the Elrhaz Formation of Gadoufaoua.