Dinosaur had mouth like vacuum cleaner

電気掃除機のような口を持つ恐竜

mp3形式 Natural

口が電気掃除機の吸い込み口のような形をしている恐竜が、1億1000年前に今のサハラ砂漠に生息していたそうです。

The Nigersaurus was a dinosaur that lived 110 million years ago. It lived in the area that is now the Sahara Desert.

Scientists have discovered that it had an unusual jaw. It had a mouth that looked like the end of a vacuum cleaner.

The dinosaur was about 10 meters long. It held its head near the ground to eat plants, and it ate plants like a lawn mower.

The dinosaur's mouth was filled with about 500 tiny, sharp teeth. These teeth were lined near the front of the mouth. Behind each tooth were replacements if the teeth came loose. The Nigersaurus lost teeth every 30 to 35 days. Each tooth had about eight replacements.

These dinosaurus were very common. But their bones were very fragile. Their backbones were hollow and their skulls were light. That is why there are not many fossils.

The dinosaur was first discovered by French scientists in Niger in the 1950s.

The scientists were led by Philippe Taquet. They named the dinosaur Nigersaurus taqueti. (AP)

Shukan ST: Nov. 30, 2007
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