A Ground-Level Grazer
Unlike tall sauropods such as Brachiosaurus that fed from the tops of trees, Nigersaurus was a ground-level grazer. Its neck was long but held horizontally — or even slightly downward — keeping its wide, flat mouth close to the vegetation on the floodplain floor. Scientists refer to this as a "low-browsing" feeding strategy.
What Plants Were Available?
Nigersaurus lived approximately 110 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous period in what is now the Sahara Desert region of Niger, West Africa. At that time, the region was a very different landscape — lush floodplains with rivers, dense ground cover, and a warm, humid climate. The plants available included:
- Ferns — the dominant ground cover of the period
- Horsetails — tall, reed-like plants growing near water
- Angiosperms — early flowering plants just beginning to evolve
- Cycads — palm-like plants common in the Cretaceous
- Club mosses — low-growing ground plants
How Did It Feed?
Nigersaurus fed using a continuous cropping action. Its wide, rectangular mouth — lined with over 500 tiny teeth in neat rows — moved through low-growing vegetation like a lawnmower cutting grass. It did not chew; instead it cropped the plants and swallowed them, with digestion happening in its large gut.
Because plants are so abrasive, its teeth wore down rapidly. This is why Nigersaurus evolved its extraordinary tooth replacement system, replacing each tooth approximately every two weeks.
How Much Did It Eat Per Day?
Nigersaurus weighed approximately 2 tons. Large herbivores of this size typically need to consume enormous quantities of food daily to fuel their bodies. Modern elephants of similar weight eat 200–400 pounds of vegetation per day. Nigersaurus likely needed a similar amount, which explains why it needed such an efficient, continuous feeding system.
Did It Compete With Other Dinosaurs for Food?
Yes. The Gadoufaoua formation in Niger where Nigersaurus fossils were found also contained remains of other large herbivorous sauropods. These dinosaurs likely occupied slightly different feeding niches — some grazing at ground level like Nigersaurus, others browsing at mid or high level — reducing direct competition for the same plants.