It sounds like the setup for a joke, doesn’t it? But the answer is real, and it’s one of the most unusual plant-eating dinosaurs ever discovered — Nigersaurus taqueti.
Known for its wide muzzle, vacuum-cleaner-like mouth, and over 500 slender teeth, Nigersaurus has puzzled paleontologists since its discovery. Its skull and jaws were so delicate that scientists once thought it couldn’t even feed efficiently. But modern research revealed that this dinosaur was perfectly adapted to an unusual lifestyle — grazing close to the ground, scraping ferns and horsetails like an ancient lawn mower.
Let’s dive into the full story — from its discovery in the Sahara to how it used hundreds of teeth to survive in a harsh Cretaceous ecosystem.
What Animal Has 500 Teeth
Quick Facts: Nigersaurus at a Glance
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Nigersaurus taqueti |
| Meaning of Name | “Niger lizard” |
| Discovered By | Philippe Taquet (1976); described in detail by Paul Sereno (1999–2007) |
| Time Period | Middle Cretaceous (~115–105 million years ago) |
| Location Found | Elrhaz Formation, Gadoufaoua region, Niger (West Africa) |
| Length | About 9 meters (30 feet) |
| Weight | Around 4 metric tons |
| Diet | Herbivorous (low-browsing) |
| Teeth Count | ~500 active and replacement teeth |
| Tooth Replacement Rate | Every 14–30 days |
| Group | Rebbachisauridae (a family of diplodocoid sauropods) |
Discovery: From Desert Bones to Dinosaur Fame
The story of Nigersaurus begins in the Sahara Desert — one of the driest, hottest places on Earth today, but during the Cretaceous period, it was lush and green.
French paleontologist Philippe Taquet first found fragments of the dinosaur in 1976 during an expedition to Niger. However, those remains were incomplete, and scientists could tell little about the animal’s shape.
Decades later, in the 1990s, a team led by Dr. Paul Sereno from the University of Chicago returned to the region and made a groundbreaking discovery — a nearly complete skull and skeleton of the same species. That skull changed everything.
Sereno’s team realized that this was no ordinary sauropod. It had a short neck, a delicate skull, and an unusually wide mouth filled with rows of tiny, pencil-like teeth — more than 500 in total when you count all the active and replacement teeth. It was later named Nigersaurus taqueti, in honor of both the country of discovery and Philippe Taquet.
Anatomy: The Most Peculiar Sauropod Ever Found
When you picture a sauropod, you probably imagine a long-necked, tree-browsing giant like Brachiosaurus or Diplodocus.
Nigersaurus broke that mold completely.
A Mouthful of Teeth — Literally 500+
Nigersaurus had about 68 columns of teeth in its upper jaw and 60 in the lower, arranged tightly like bristles on a comb.
Each tooth was narrow and curved — perfect for cropping soft plants near the ground.
Behind every functional tooth were up to nine replacement teeth, waiting to move forward when one wore out. That’s how scientists estimated that Nigersaurus had over 500 active and replacement teeth at any given time.
What’s even more fascinating is how fast it replaced them.
Studies (Sereno et al., 2007, PLoS ONE) show that Nigersaurus grew a new tooth roughly every 14 days — an incredible rate, suggesting its diet was highly abrasive and wore down its teeth constantly.
A Skull Built for Grazing
Its skull was extremely lightweight — thin enough to let light pass through.
Unlike most sauropods, Nigersaurus’ jaw was positioned at the tip of its snout, not below it. This unique structure allowed it to feed straight ahead, close to the ground — something unheard of in most long-necked dinosaurs.
CT scans revealed large openings in the skull that made it surprisingly delicate. Sereno described it as “a skull you could almost blow apart like a dry leaf.”
Forward-Facing Eyes?
Nigersaurus’ eyes faced more forward than in typical sauropods, giving it a slightly better field of depth perception. Combined with its grazing posture, this helped it navigate dense vegetation while keeping an eye on potential predators like Suchomimus or Sarcosuchus.
Diet: What Did Nigersaurus Eat?
Nigersaurus was a herbivore — but not a tree-browser like its cousins. Instead, it specialized in low-browsing, feeding on soft, ground-level vegetation.
The Cretaceous Menu
The Sahara 110 million years ago was a green floodplain filled with ferns, horsetails, and small flowering plants. These plants lacked the tough fibers of later grasses, which made them easy to chew — or in this case, scrape.
Its jaw worked like a horizontal cropping blade, mowing through vegetation as it swept its head back and forth.
The high rate of tooth replacement (every two weeks!) suggests that it consumed plants that quickly dulled its teeth — possibly gritty, silica-rich vegetation near riverbanks.
Unique Feeding Mechanism
Unlike most sauropods, Nigersaurus’ teeth were concentrated at the front of its mouth, while the back portion was almost toothless. That design was perfect for shearing plants, not grinding them. Scientists believe it likely swallowed food without much chewing, letting its enormous gut handle digestion.
Habitat: Life in the Mid-Cretaceous Sahara
During the mid-Cretaceous (~110 million years ago), the region that is now Niger was a lush floodplain crossed by rivers and dotted with ferns and early flowering plants.
Fossils found alongside Nigersaurus include crocs, fish, turtles, and other dinosaurs like Ouranosaurus and Suchomimus, painting a vivid picture of a diverse ecosystem.
Nigersaurus likely moved in herds, grazing on the low vegetation of river deltas. Its relatively small size for a sauropod (around 9 meters) made it more agile than the massive Brachiosaurs that roamed elsewhere.
Comparison: Nigersaurus vs. Other Dinosaurs
| Dinosaur | Teeth Count | Feeding Level | Length | Diet Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigersaurus | ~500+ | Ground-level | ~9 m | Soft plants, ferns |
| Diplodocus | ~100–150 | Mid-height | ~25 m | Leaves, ferns |
| Brachiosaurus | ~50 | Tree-level | ~30 m | Leaves, conifers |
| Triceratops | ~800 (tooth batteries) | Mid-height | ~9 m | Tough plants |
| Hadrosaurus | ~1,000 (cheek teeth) | Mid-height | ~10 m | Fibrous plants |
While some dinosaurs like Triceratops or Hadrosaurus had more teeth overall, Nigersaurus stands out because all its teeth were active in the front of the mouth, creating a continuous cutting surface.
Evolutionary Adaptations: Efficiency in Numbers
Why did Nigersaurus evolve so many teeth?
Scientists think it was a specialist grazer — feeding almost exclusively near the ground. Constantly chewing gritty plants would quickly wear down normal teeth, so rapid replacement was essential for survival.
It’s a brilliant example of evolutionary trade-off: Nigersaurus sacrificed durability for replaceability.
Its delicate skull and forward-facing jaws show how evolution fine-tuned it for a very specific niche — like the ecological role of a cow or horse today, but in dinosaur form.
Fossil Discovery and Research:
The journey to uncover the secrets of the Nigersaurus began with the first fossil fragments discovered in the 1970s in the Elrhaz Formation of Niger, but it wasn’t until 1999 that more complete remains brought this fascinating dinosaur into the spotlight. These discoveries presented paleontologists with both challenges and opportunities. The fragile nature of the Nigersaurus’s slender teeth and delicate skull made excavation and preservation particularly difficult. Yet, these challenges were met with innovative techniques in fossil recovery and 3D reconstruction, allowing scientists to piece together the intricate details of its jaw and the astonishing array of 500 teeth.
Significance in Paleontology
Nigersaurus reshaped how scientists understood sauropod diversity. Before its discovery, most sauropods were thought to feed high up in trees. Nigersaurus proved that some evolved for ground-level feeding, revealing how adaptable these giants truly were.
It also became a showcase fossil for CT scanning technology in paleontology. Using computer models, researchers reconstructed its skull and feeding mechanics digitally — a first for sauropod research.
As Dr. Sereno famously said:
“Nigersaurus was the dinosaur that ate like a lawn mower.”
Common Myths and Internet Memes
Let’s address the viral elephant in the room.
Search “what dinosaur has 500 teeth” and you’ll find countless memes and jokes. Unfortunately, many of those posts use the name irresponsibly or mockingly.
The real story of Nigersaurus is far more interesting than internet humor. It represents a unique evolutionary experiment — a gentle, plant-eating dinosaur adapted for survival in one of Earth’s most dynamic prehistoric landscapes.
Teachers and students should treat it as a case study in adaptation, specialization, and scientific discovery — not as a meme.
Timeline of Discovery
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1976 | Philippe Taquet discovers first bones in Niger. |
| 1997 | Paul Sereno’s expedition rediscovers better fossils. |
| 1999 | Officially named Nigersaurus taqueti. |
| 2007 | Full skull reconstruction and CT analysis published in PLoS ONE. |
| 2010s–2020s | Featured in multiple documentaries and museum exhibits worldwide. |
Fossil Evidence: Seeing Nigersaurus Today
You can see real Nigersaurus fossils and reconstructions at:
- National Geographic Society Headquarters, Washington D.C.
- University of Chicago’s Paul Sereno Lab (replica skulls).
- Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris.
- Online 3D models available through University of Chicago’s “Project Exploration”.
The reconstructions show just how lightweight and unusual this dinosaur really was — a head like a vacuum cleaner, neck like a giraffe’s cousin, and a body built for endless grazing.
Why It Matters: Lessons from Nigersaurus
Studying Nigersaurus isn’t just about counting teeth.
It helps scientists understand how ecosystems recover and diversify after mass extinctions. The Cretaceous landscape of Africa was full of experimentation — new plants, new predators, and new herbivores evolving to exploit different food sources.
Nigersaurus shows how even a “simple” plant eater can evolve incredible anatomical innovations to survive. It’s also a reminder that biodiversity thrives through specialization — a lesson that still applies to today’s ecosystems.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1. What dinosaur has 500 teeth?
👉 The dinosaur with 500 teeth is Nigersaurus taqueti, a plant-eating sauropod from the Cretaceous period.
Q2. Did Nigersaurus really have exactly 500 teeth?
Not exactly. It had about 500 active and replacement teeth — new ones constantly grew in as old ones wore out.
Q3. How often did it replace its teeth?
Roughly every 14 to 30 days, according to CT studies of its jawbone.
Q4. Where was Nigersaurus found?
In the Elrhaz Formation of Niger, West Africa.
Q5. What did it eat?
Soft, low-growing plants like ferns and horsetails — not hard, woody vegetation.
Q6. Was Nigersaurus dangerous?
No! It was completely herbivorous and gentle, more like a prehistoric cow than a predator.
Q7. How big was it?
Around 30 feet long and 4 tons — smaller than most sauropods but still impressive.
Q8. Why is it called Nigersaurus?
The name means “Niger lizard,” after the country where its fossils were found.
Sources and References
Wikipedia contributors. (2025). Nigersaurus. Wikipedia.org
Sereno, P. C. et al. (2007). Structural Extremes in a Cretaceous Dinosaur. PLoS ONE, 2(11): e1230.
Taquet, P. (1976). Découverte d’un nouveau dinosaurien sauropode du Crétacé inférieur du Niger. Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris.
University of Chicago – Paul Sereno Lab: paulsereno.uchicago.edu
National Geographic (2020). What dinosaur has 500 teeth? Meet Nigersaurus.
Conclusion: A Dinosaur Like No Other
So, what dinosaur has 500 teeth?
It’s Nigersaurus, the gentle, ground-grazing herbivore that turned the idea of a “long-necked dinosaur” upside down.
From its discovery in the sands of Niger to modern museum halls, Nigersaurus continues to fascinate scientists and students alike.
Nigersaurus may not have been the biggest or fiercest dinosaur, but it was undoubtedly one of the most extraordinary — a true reminder that nature’s weirdest designs are often its most successful.