Nigersaurus

dinosaur · long-neck · Africa · cretaceous

Super long neck. Nigersaurus was a sauropod, which means it had an extremely long neck to reach plants high in the trees. This helped it eat food that other dinosaurs couldn't reach.

Flat, weird snout. Unlike most sauropods, Nigersaurus had a flat, wide snout instead of a pointed one. This unusual shape helped it scoop up low-growing plants from the ground, making it different from other long-necked dinosaurs.

Found in Niger. Fossils of Nigersaurus were discovered in an ancient rock formation called Elrhaz in a place called Gadoufaoua in the country of Niger in Africa. The dinosaur's name literally means 'Niger reptile'.

Ancient Cretaceous giant. Nigersaurus lived during the middle Cretaceous period, about 115 to 105 million years ago. That was long before T-rex showed up on Earth.

Named after a scientist. The dinosaur was named Nigersaurus taqueti to honor paleontologist Philippe Taquet, who discovered the first remains. Though fossils were found in 1976, it didn't get its official name until 1999.