This week on the Skeleton Crew, we tackle one of the most upsetting dinosaurs known to science! Say hello to Nigersaurus, a little sauropod with a face like a shovel who lived in the Early Cretaceous of what is now Africa! This little weirdo was named by Paul Sereno, based on fossils found in modern Niger, and has a trait truly unique among all other terrestrial vertebrates – all of the teeth (how many? watch to find out!) are along the front of the jaw, indicating very specialized feeding behavior relative to other sauropods. What makes this dinosaur so bizarre? And how do your five favorite paleontologists feel about it? Watch to find out!

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Image Credits:
Demandasaurus by Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor, José Ignacio Canudo, Pedro Huerta, Diego Montero, Xabier Pereda Suberbiola, and Leonardo Salgado CC BY 2.0
Dicraeosaurus hansemanni22 flipped by ДиБгд CC BY SA 3.0
Brachytrachelopan group by ABelov2014 CC BY SA 3.0
Bajadasaurus SW by Slate Weasel CC BY 4.0
Amargasaurus Reconstruction Fred Wierum by Fred Wierum CC BY SA 4.0
A new rebbachisaurid sauropod from the Aptian–Albian, Lower Cretaceous Rayoso Formation, Neuquén, Argentina by José I. Canudo, José L. Carballido, Alberto Garrido, and Leonardo Salgado

00:00:00 Intros and Commiseration
00:02:06 Shapes for Dummies
00:09:17 Where’s Whale 2?
00:21:57 Inner Ear in My Ear? It’s More Likely than You Think
00:33:32 Gaping Alveolar Trough
00:44:52 Just a Lil Guy
00:50:09 RANKING
00:58:13 SPIN! THAT! WHEEL! (& huge THANK YOU to patrons!!)

Keywords: jurassic park, jurassic world, jurassic world evolution 2, sauropod, niger, nigersaurus, cretaceous, aptian-albian, africa, paul sereno, bizarre, unique, small sauropod, rebbachisaur, diplodocoid, swamp, vegetation, plant-eating, herbivore, teeth, snout, muzzle, transverse dentition, paleontologists, paleontologists react, scicomm, science, fossil, evolution, museum, exploration