Following the widespread explosion of a racist joke made by sick Reddit users, internet users have been advised not to go for a “Don’t google which dinosaur had 500 teeth” joke. The text has been making its way across social media and appears as one of the autofill suggestions on the search engine. People keep searching for what dinosaur has 500 teeth. And getting the answer Nigersaurus.
In this blog post, we are going to provide you with all information about this joke’s origin, how it spreads, who is nigersaurus, does it have 500 teeth, and more. Let’s start without any further delay!
Origin of the Joke ‘Which Dinosaur Had 500 Teeth?’
On September 6th, 2019, a user whose account has since been deleted made the very first public post warning people against searching for the 500-tooth dinosaur. And after viewing this, people started searching for this, and then it got viral later sometime.
How does this Joke Spread on Social Accounts?
Several posts in anti-comedy subreddits helped the joke gather momentum in late December 2019 and early January 2020, respectively. In January 2020, the joke started trending on YouTube. Many YouTubers made a video on this topic, but some videos out of them had deleted later.
Following that the joke turned into what dinosaur has 500 teeth meme which had been shared across all social media platforms. Countless memes had been created on this. According to the meme, the meat-eating dinosaur from the tiny country of the Republic of Niger in Western Africa is “absolutely nothing like” the real creature.
How do Nigersaurus get its Name?
The Niger River, which runs through the Sahara Desert and is where the dinosaur’s remains were discovered, gave rise to the name Nigersaurus. The odd name of Nigersaurus is partly responsible for its online fame. Looking closely reveals that the name is fairly scientific.
The name “Nigersaurus” refers to a group of reptiles from Niger, and the word itself means “Niger reptile” (the republic of Niger). A tribute to Phillippe Taqueti, who made the first discovery of this dinosaur, is also honored in the name of the species.
Did it Really have 500 Teeth?
People keep searching for which dinosaur has 500 teeth? And the answer they got is Nigersaurus. Does it really have a set of 500 teeth? In a technical sense, yes. The skull of the Nigersaurus contained 500 thin teeth. But these teeth weren’t really “permanent” in the usual sense. They functioned as replacement teeth that grew when necessary.
It’s not unusual for reptiles to do this, but it’s unusual for dinosaurs. Fixed and replacement teeth made up the whole set of teeth that Nigersaurus had!
How did the 500-Toothed Dinosaur look?
With a femur length of 1 m and a height of 9 m, the Nigersaurus is comparable to sauropods. Experts in paleontology estimate that they probably weighed 4 tons. The Nigersaurus had thirteen cervical vertebrae, which gave them their short-necked appearance, and today elephants share their height and weight with them.
The Skull and Body of Nigersaurus
Compared to other dinosaurs with long necks, Nigerosaurus’s skull contains four fenestras, each of which is significantly larger. The skull featured bony, enlarged nostrils and was strong enough to withstand the shearing of the 500 teeth. The 500 replacement teeth that the Nigersaurus owned were not all present in its mouth at once. The teeth developed in rows and were quite thin. A new tooth would grow in to fill the space left by the worn-down one.
These dinosaurs had smaller snouts. They had a tooth row that was not prognathous, and the size of their snot tip matched the size of their tooth series. The Nigersaurus was further distinguished by the loss of its long, extended skull, which left a noticeable gap in the cerebral region.
Also, their complete 500-tooth dental rack could hold all of their teeth because their maxillary tooth was rotated in accordance with the lower jaw. With bottom teeth that were 20–30% smaller than upper jaw teeth, their teeth were defined relative to their carnivorous mindset. Moreover, its teeth had bent tooth crowns and uneven enamel (thicker on the outside). They could rip plants out of the ground because of it.
Its back was covered in armor plates that extended one foot long. The vertebral arches have thick, intriguing laminae in between the pneumatic holes that are deeply pierced. Its tail vertebrae have no significant centers. Comparatively speaking to other sauropods or elongated dinosaurs, its pectoral and pelvic problem bones were thin.
It had powerful limbs in the front half of the back legs, which may have been two-thirds of the hind legs, similar to other sauropods or long-necked dinosaurs.
What did Nigersaurus Consume or Eat?
Being a herbivore, Nigersaurus consumed flora that were on the ground. Because of his long neck and small head, he could graze on vegetation that other dinosaurs couldn’t. It was once believed that nigersaurus were herbivorous animals.
On the other hand, it is now understood that it shared a diet with other sauropods. Its smaller parallel teeth are toothed with tiny, pit-like scratches. This is a normal occurrence in grazing animals that eat vegetation like ferns, weeds, and other low-level plants.
They couldn’t consume grass during this time because it wasn’t available. Due to its height and rigid neck, this 500-toothed dinosaur lived by eating ferns, horsetails, and other angiosperms (flowering plants). They look like modern flamingos.
It’s possible that Nigersaurus used its teeth as a comb to remove water ferns and other vegetation, just like these pink birds. Nigersaurus might have grazed on small conifers and other low-lying plants, as Sereno indicated. It could not successfully eat vegetation because of the lateral placement of its tooth.
Therefore, they needed this incredible quantity of 500 teeth to ensure that a new and functional one was put in place of the damaged teeth. In comparison to other herbivores, their replacement rates for teeth are much higher.
Is it Possible to see a Nigersaurus?
If you want to see the well-known dinosaur who had 500 teeth, the 110-million-year-old Nigersaurus fossils are on exhibition in Japan in the Explorers Hall of the National Geographic Museum in Washington. The skull with its entire set of 500 teeth is part of the skeleton that is on showcase.
Nigersaurus Dinosaur with 500 Teeth
The 500 teeth on the Nigersaurus were all located in its broad muzzle. The replacement of these might have happened every 14 days, according to some scientists. Nigersaurus had a lower jaw that split into two parts and had a little S-shape.
The 500 teeth were supported by the sub cylindrical transverse ramus, while the majority of the muscle attachments were kept in the back ramus, which was lighter. In addition, several fenestrae, including three that were absent from other sauropods, were present in the jaws. There was a keratinous sheath, according to grooves on the front ends of the jaws.
Nigersaurus is the only tetrapod that is popular to have had jaws that were wider than its skull and teeth that stretched across its front laterally.
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What size did Nigersaurus have?
Like almost all sauropods, Nigersaurus was quadruped with a small skull, thick hind legs, and a prominent tail. With a body length of only 9–10 meters (30–feet), Nigersaurus was the smallest member of that group, and its femur was only one meter long (3ft 3 in). A modern elephant weighs about four tons (4.4 short tons), which is about how much Nigersaurus did.
Its neck was relatively short for a sauropod, with only thirteen cervical vertebrae. Its skull contained several cranial bones that were extraordinarily thin—some of which are almost transparent. Nigersaurus has a highly unusual mouth for a Sauropod. After placing food in its huge mouth, which was broader than the rest of its skull, Nigersaurus would have chewed it up with its 500 teeth.
Paleontologists claim that a hatchling Nigersaurus’s jawbone could “fit on top of a silver dollar” even though adults could grow up to 30 feet long.
Where did Nigersaurus live?
In the Elhaz Formation of the Tenma group, which was found in Gadoufaoua in the Republic of Niger, Nigersaurus flourished. Fluvial sandstones with low relief made up this area, and there were also a few sporadic dunes with coarse to medium grain size.
Nonetheless, this region was a floodplain during the Mic-cretaceous time. Nigersaurus was able to survive thanks to the marshland’s richness of low-lying plants.
Conclusion
It was a simple dinosaur who lived approximately 115 million years ago. It was a herbivore with an incredible amount of teeth, and it preferred to live on floodplains where it had access to low-lying vegetation. Its 500 teeth set him apart from other dinosaurs, even though he was a very common dinosaur. Hope you got all the details about what dinosaur has 500 teeth.