Talk:Nigersaurus

Comment

So is it a myth that it vacuumed up food? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.162.57.103 (talk) 15:09, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

That's just a metaphore for the style it used to eat. The skull was down-turned and it would have used its neck to sweep large areas of the forest floor. It "vacuumed up" food the same way a cow does. That is, it ate very efficiently, it didn't actually use suction or anything... Dinoguy2 (talk) 23:15, 16 November 2007 (UTC)

image addition

I am not having images under those names on this article. I also highly doubt that the uploader actually has permission to upload them. J. Spencer (talk) 18:02, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

this pictures are from the Wiki commons. look at the Copyrights. look hier http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Nigga.png and http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Nigga2.JPG or on the german article. --62.214.209.174 (talk) 18:08, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

The images have no source URL. I doubt they are licensed correctly, and I am also unwilling to have images using those names. Firsfron of Ronchester 18:13, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

According to the PLos ONE guidelines, articles are under a Creative Commons Attribution license, however, the names of the images are in very poor taste and should be changed. We had to sit through several days of racist joke edits on the article, and I'm not going to have them hidden in the names of images. J. Spencer (talk) 18:42, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

I have changed the image names, you can find them at Image:N. taqueti2.jpg, and Image:N. taqueti.png. I have asked the uploader to clarify the source/author information and licensing on commons, so there is no confusion. Info given by J. Spencer above, added to both images. Thanks J! Cheers, Ariel♥Gold 19:03, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for the assist! J. Spencer (talk) 23:28, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

I was under the impression images taken directly from journal articles are not usable here. Why are these an exception? Dinoguy2 (talk) 21:42, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Never mind, just noticed PLoS uses CC. Good deal! Dinoguy2 (talk) 21:47, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Restoration

• On this note, what was wrong with the image on the right? Something with the whole "foot fall formula" issue? FunkMonk (talk) 18:51, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Fixed the legs according to this[1], and corrected the skull shape. FunkMonk (talk) 22:24, 6 October 2013 (UTC)

• Wow, I had never imagined there would be so many racist vandal edits for this TFA. I knew there was potential for it, but sheesh. FunkMonk (talk) 15:23, 18 January 2014 (UTC)

  Don’t underestimate ‘memers’ Sangsangaplaz (talk) 10:40, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Nigersaurus/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Jens Lallensack (talk · contribs) 09:11, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

A great article, and fun to read. I have only found some minor issues, most of them are not even necessary to resolve for reaching GA.

• Nigersaurus was fairly small for a sauropod; with a body length of only 9 m (30 ft) and a femur reaching only 1 m (3 ft 3 in). It also had a comparably short neck with only 13 cervical vertebrae. -> I would remove that "only", it seems, at best, unnecessary. Brachiosaurids also had a neck with "only" 13 cervical vertebrae despite of having very long necks. That count was enhanced by various sauropod linages independently, but 13 is the plesiomorphic standard count.

Removed. FunkMonk (talk) 13:59, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

• The vertebral arches were merely 2 mm (0.079 in) intersecting laminae. -> I don't understand. When viewed in cross section?

The source states that "External pneumatic diverticulae, in turn, have reduced the dorsal neural arches to a set of intersecting laminae". LittleJerry (talk) 18:58, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 20:32, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

• The pelvic and pectoral girdles were very thin, being only several millimetres thick. -> perhaps "The pelvic and pectoral girdle bones were very thin, often being only several millimetres thick"?

Replaced. FunkMonk (talk) 13:29, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

• for the "Description" section, you could emphasize the peculiar shape of the muzzle which is box shaped with all teeth standing in a straight line perpendicular to the sagittal plane. That's very distinctive, as other dinosaurs have most of their teeth arranged in a line parallel to the sagittal plane.

Will get to. LittleJerry (talk) 19:00, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

Done. LittleJerry (talk) 21:22, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

• The holotype specimen (MNN GAD512) consists of a partial skull and neck, a scapula and limb material found nearby were also referred to the same specimen. -> The holotype is only the skull and neck, right? While reading the sentence, you expect that the scapula and limb material belong to the holotype unless you read the end of the sentence. A ";" or "while" may is better here, e.g. "the skull and neck; a scapula and limb material".

Yup, I'll try with a full stop. FunkMonk (talk) 13:09, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

• you could add a sentence about skull openings, as these are distinctive and according to Sereno 2007 (page 1) "have never been reported in any other sauropodomorph dinosaur": The supratemporal fenestra (that one visible when viewing the skull from above) is closed; and five additional fenestrae on the lateral side of the skull. This way, at least some autapomorphies are mentioned.

Will get to. LittleJerry (talk) 19:00, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

Done. LittleJerry (talk) 18:56, 21 October 2013 (UTC)

• The picture of the teeth is a bit blurred. There is a nice picture in Whitlock 2011, page 4. What about that?

Replaced, though I was a bit sad that there were no better pictures of a whole tooth! FunkMonk (talk) 13:22, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

• lateral orientation of the tooth batteries -> perhaps "lateral orientation of the tooth row"? --Jens Lallensack (talk) 09:11, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

Replaced, but now it rhymes! Row show. FunkMonk (talk) 13:24, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

• • Thanks for the review, Jens! I and Jerry will fix the issues soon. We're also thinking of getting this to FAC, and will expand the description and behaviour sections. Any suggestions on how it could be further readied for FAC? FunkMonk (talk) 13:08, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

further suggestions

To help ready the article for FAC, I have read the article a second time and found some more minor issues.

• The presacral vertebrae (vertebrae before the sacrum) were heavily pneumatised to the point where the column was a hollow tube. It had little to no cancellous bone making the centra (filled with air spaces) a thin wall. -> I suggest to formulate the whole pneumatisation part new from scratch. The column was no "hollow tube", this would mean that air could move between individual vertebrae, and this was not the case. The bracket (filled with air spaces) seems to be misplaced and distracts the flow in reading (I had to read that sentence three times). Making the centra a thin wall – that formulation seems unfortunate, as the centrum is no single wall.

I think I've fixed it. FunkMonk (talk) 22:21, 9 November 2013 (UTC)

• possible addition: "The limbs were robustly built as seen in other sauropods, contrasting with the extremely lightweight construction of the rest of the skeleton. [1]" This may fit well before As in most diplodocoids, the front legs of Nigersaurus were only 66% the length of back legs.

Added. FunkMonk (talk) 19:48, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

• The most distinguishing feature of Nigersaurus was its wide muzzle and small teeth – "small teeth" would mean "short teeth"; the cited source only says "slender teeth" as far as I can see.

Done. FunkMonk (talk) 19:40, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

• The teeth were packed into dental batteries, as in hadrosaurs and certopsians,[2] which were embedded deep into the jaw. These batteries consisted of 68 columns in the upper jaw and 60 columns in the lower jaw. Each column consisted of ten teeth and Nigersaurus had more than 500 active and replacement teeth. The upper teeth were slightly broader. – When you do not now what a "dental battery" is, than you would have to read this paragraph at least two times before getting an idea. What about rearanging the succession of information? E.g. "The teeth were continuously replaced. Under each active tooth there was a column out of 9 replacement teeth within the jaw. With 68 columns in the upper jaw and 60 columns in the lower jaw, these so called dental batteries comprise a total of more than 500 active and replacement teeth. The upper teeth were slightly broader."

Done. FunkMonk (talk) 23:29, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

• For the classification section, what about a sentence like "the Rebbachisauridae is the basalmost family within the Diplodocoidea, which also contains the long necked Diplodocids and the short necked Dicraeosaurids". The reason for this: The penultimate sentence of the classification section (The discovery of these basal diplodocoids may …) expect you to know that the Rebbachisauridae is the basalmost group, so this should be mentioned earlier.

Added. FunkMonk (talk) 19:50, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

• A comparison with other Rebbachisaurids would be a nice to have, but this would mean quite a lot of reading into recent descriptions of related genera.

Unless Nigersaurus is specifically mentioned in those papers, I think it would be too close to original synthesis. FunkMonk (talk) 23:34, 3 November 2013 (UTC)

• Nigersaurus probably would not have been able to chew for very long. – Was it able to chew at all? It only had those cropping teeth.

Fixed. LittleJerry (talk) 04:46, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

• On the basis of µCT scans of skull elements of a single individual, Sereno's team created a "prototype" Nigersaurus skull they could examine. They found that the semicircular canals of its inner ear … – Here, information seem to be mixed up? The brain and inner ear was reconstructed based on the exceptional well preserved braincase, by taking an endocast and by making micro CT scans. The Prototype was made to examine the delicate skull bones.

As far as I can tell, the supplemental information indicates it was used to examine the brain as well? FunkMonk (talk) 22:40, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

I see the distinction, split. FunkMonk (talk) 21:20, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

• possible addition: From which type of sediment do the fossils come from? See [2]. I would consider this information as important, never forget about the geology.

Yup, didn't see it before today. FunkMonk (talk) 22:40, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

• A pity that there is no more space for this location map ([3]), but perhaps it would make a good addition to the article Gadoufaoua. --Jens Lallensack (talk) 21:12, 19 October 2013 (UTC)

Added there. FunkMonk (talk) 20:52, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

I have since added the map here, Jens Lallensack, and I just thought of another image issue... I added this cropped figure[4] of skull reconstructions from the Sereno Plos paper to avoid the lower part of the original image[5], which shows the supposed "neutral" head postures of various sauropods, based on theories that seem rather controversial... But I'm still wondering whether the full version should be used for the sake of completeness... But on the other hand, I feel it is better to just show the non-controversial part of the image, also because it will be less confusing for the general reader to understand... FunkMonk (talk) 17:31, 11 June 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, FunkMonk! I think there is generally no problem in mentioning and illustrating controversial theories, as long as the reader is informed that not everybody agrees. But I nevertheless find the current image better, since, as you said, the full image is just a bit too much and confusing. Just my personal opinion! --Jens Lallensack (talk) 22:55, 11 June 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, then we agree! And oh, didn't notice this was a subsection of the GA, usually they are not supposed to be commented in after the pass, but well, it was helpful after all... FunkMonk (talk) 23:14, 11 June 2016 (UTC)

Thanks a lot, that'll get us going! FunkMonk (talk) 20:46, 20 October 2013 (UTC)

• Everything should be addressed, and much has been expanded. Any further comments or edits are welcome. FunkMonk (talk) 12:39, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

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fenestra

LittleJerry, check, please: you wrote about 3 unique fenestra, but the source apparently says about 5: "Several cranial features of Nigersaurus have never been reported in any other sauropodomorph dinosaur including closure of the supratemporal opening, five additional fenestrae on the lateral aspect of the skull...". Sneeuwschaap (talk) 08:57, 28 July 2021 (UTC)

Pronunciation?

Could we add the pronunciation of Nigersaurus? Unkownreader

Since it is a Latin name, it would be most correct to pronounce it approximately as it is written. Sneeuwschaap (talk) 23:05, 1 August 2021 (UTC)

You can hear the main describer pronounce it here:[6] FunkMonk (talk) 09:38, 21 April 2022 (UTC)

some people might mistake it for n word 80.194.237.230 (talk) 13:44, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Considering an entire country and nationality is tied to that name, that shouldn't be an issue for any thinking person. FunkMonk (talk) 13:55, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Which country is tied to the n word? Sangsangaplaz (talk) 10:37, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

He meant Niger. There's only one g in the name, not two. Prinsgezinde (talk) 13:30, 15 October 2023 (UTC)

plus, it's pronounced like a J and is only tied to the nword in popular culture Sangsangaplaz (talk) 07:17, 22 October 2023 (UTC)

It’s something that cannot be changed by anyone so we have to deal with it. Sangsangaplaz (talk) 10:38, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

what if i dont knwo hwoto pronounce the dinosaur name 80.194.237.230 (talk) 10:07, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

Then you can watch one of the videos linked at the end of the article where Paul Sereno mentions the name. FunkMonk (talk) 11:59, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

I will try to find out how to pronounce it. Also it’s spelled “don’t”, “know”, and “how to” but i am guessing you already know. Sangsangaplaz (talk) 12:10, 23 June 2023 (UTC)

Possible synonym of Nigersaurus has been found by me.

Someone please add Rebbachisaurus tamesnensis (Lapparent, 1960) as a possible synonym of Nigersaurus. 80.194.237.230 (talk) 13:44, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Do you have a source for that? Several IP's and accounts (who I believe could be you) have repeatedly added it as a synonym of Jobaria and Nigersaurus over the years, but I can't find sources for that either. Do you know any papers, documents, or first hand observations of the recent or distant past to confirm what tamesnensis really is? 2001:4453:5F7:6400:4D25:697C:9C00:9DF5 (talk) 14:02, 11 August 2022 (UTC)

Nigersaurus mass estimate

The size estimate seems to come from the 2007 study which proposes a length estimate at 9 m and a body mass estimate of Nigersaurus at ca. 4 tons (I'm not sure whether this means tons in terms of metric tons or short tons, yet this Wikipedia article writes it in metric tons; was there a confirmation from the authors?) Length estimate is fine, but other researchers have suggested significantly lower body mass estimates. Paul (2016) and Hallett & Wedel (2016) suggested 2 metric tons (the latter is written as 2 tons, but the book itself confirms that this means metric tons), and Campione & Evans (2020) suggested 1.9 metric tons. Would it better to include these estimates as well?

Paul (2016): The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs 2nd Edition

Hallett & Wedel (2016): The Sauropod Dinosaurs: Life in the Age of Giants

Campione & Evans (2020): The accuracy and precision of body mass estimation in non-avian dinosaurs Junsik1223 (talk) 00:16, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

If we have a lower estimate, we don't even need to list the one in between the two extremes. Also since the lower estimate is from a more reliable source. As for weight, I believe metric units are the standard in science. FunkMonk (talk) 00:21, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Thanks. I have edited the article as suggested. Junsik1223 (talk) 00:35, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Seems fine. FunkMonk (talk) 00:58, 10 December 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 4 May 2023

I would like to correct grammatical errors. Jearbear911 (talk) 15:54, 4 May 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. — Paper9oll (🔔 • 📝) 16:25, 4 May 2023 (UTC)

The title says ‘Semi-protected edit request’ but your message is about correcting grammar mistakes so what are you trying to say (also you don’t need to add a talk topic for grammatical issues if you can fix them yourself.)? Sangsangaplaz (talk) 10:32, 5 June 2023 (UTC)

Added (rough) pronounciation

I added a rough pronounciation of Nigersaurus. As i have limited knowledge about the IPA it is not the best transcription and has room for improvement. Even if it is very rough it would help readers pronounce it (and not confuse it with the n word). Feel free to improve on it. Sangsangaplaz (talk) 14:40, 24 June 2023 (UTC)

References are extensively missing

There are too many, too specific claims that are not backed by any reference. Such level of detail should be accompanied by a reputable reference. For instance, the introduction states:

"Small for a sauropod, Nigersaurus was about 9 m (30 ft) long, and had a short neck. It weighed around 1.9–4 t (2.1–4.4 short tons), comparable to a modern elephant. Its skull was very specialised for feeding, with large fenestrae and thin bones. It had a wide muzzle filled with more than 500 teeth, which were replaced at a rapid rate: around every 14 days. The jaws may have borne a keratinous sheath. Unlike other tetrapods, the tooth-bearing bones of its jaws were rotated transversely relative to the rest of the skull, so that all of its teeth were located far to the front. Its skeleton was highly pneumatised (filled with air spaces connected to air sacs), but the limbs were robustly built."

There's not a single reference. In particular, the statement that they could replace their teeth every 14 days seems extremely hard to support. Is there any high-quality scientific article that supports this claim? 69.143.146.97 (talk) 02:47, 16 May 2024 (UTC)

Intros don't need references, as they're merely a summary of the article body, which is fully referenced, if you'd bother to look. See: WP:lead section. FunkMonk (talk) 13:10, 16 May 2024 (UTC)