Head High, Nigersaurus! Oh.

By Margaret Lyons in Miscellaneous on Nov 15, 2007 9:58PM

U of C paleontologist Paul Sereno unveiled his latest dino today: Nigersaurus taqueti, an elephant-sized sauropod with a highly unusual anatomy. Nigersaurus was a "Mesozoic cow," according to Sereno. It grazed. Also, its mouth was like a vacuum. We've all had those days, Nigersaurus. Don't feel too bad.

Nigersaurus's weirdly-shaped skull had a broad, flat muzzle--to allow for ground-level grazing--and housed 50 rows of teeth, all up in the front. Sereno and co used CT scans to examine the "braincase," and discovered that Nigersaurus kept its head facing the ground, Eeyore-style.

You might remember Sereno from his Super Croc a few years ago. Back when "croc" made you think "odile" and not "plastic clog."