SpinophorosaurusSpinophorosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived in what is now Niger during the Middle Jurassic period. The first two specimens were excavated in the 2000s by German and Spanish teams under difficult conditions. The skeletons were brought to Europe and digitally replicated, making Spinophorosaurus the first sauropod to have its skeleton 3D printed, and were to be returned to Niger in the future.
Irhazer ShaleThe Irhazer Shale (French: Argiles de l'Irhazer) or Irhazer II Formation is a Middle Jurassic geologic formation of the Irhazer Group in the Agadez Region of Niger. Fossil ornithopod tracks have been reported from the formation. The dinosaur Spinophorosaurus is known from the formation. DescriptionAs the overlying Tiouraren Formation of the Irhazer Group, the formation previously had been assigned an Early Cretaceous age.
Middle JurassicSubdivision of the Jurassic according to the ICS, as of 2024.Vertical axis scale: Millions of years agoEtymologyName formalityFormalUsage informationCelestial bodyEarthRegional usageGlobal (ICS)Time scale(s) usedICS Time ScaleDefinitionChronological unitEpochStratigraphic unitSeriesTime span formalityFormalLower boundary definitionFAD of the Ammonites and Lower boundary GSSPFuentelsaz, Spain41°10′15″N1°50′00″W / 41.1708°N 1.8333°W / 41.1708; -1.8333Lower GSSP ratified2000Upper boundary definitionNot formally definedUpper boundary definition candidatesHorizon of Ammonite Cardioceras redcliffense.Upper boundary GSSP candidate section(s)Redcliff Point, Dorset, UK, Provence, FranceThe Middle Jurassic is the second epoch of the JurassicPeriod.
Tiourarén FormationThe Tiourarén Formation is a geological formation in the Agadez Region of Niger whose strata were originally thought to be Early Cretaceous. However, re-interpretation of the sediments showed that they are probably Middle or Late Jurassic (Bathonian-Oxfordian) in age. Other works suggested it reaches the Barremian. It is the uppermost unit of the Irhazer Group. Dinosaur remains & other vertebrates are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
Agadez RegionAgadez Region is one of the seven regions of Niger. At 667,799 square kilometres (257,839 mi), it covers more than half of Niger's land area, and is the largest region in the country, as well as the largest African state subdivision. The capital of the region is Agadez. HistoryThe region is a centre for palaeontology, with numerous dinosaur skeletons being found here, including the Ouranosaurus nigeriensis.
AllosauridaeAllosauridae is an extinct family of medium to large bipedal, carnivorousallosauroidtheropoddinosaurs from the Late Jurassic. Allosauridae is a fairly old taxonomic group, having been first named by the American paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878. DescriptionAllosaurids have a general anatomy typical of other neotheropod dinosaurs, contributing to the difficulty in defining the family's membership.
Early CretaceousThe Early Cretaceous (geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 Ma to 100.5 Ma.
NigerCountry in West AfricaNiger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state bordered by Libya to the northeast, Chad to the east, Nigeria to the south, Benin and Burkina Faso to the southwest, Mali to the west and Algeria to the northwest. It covers a land area of almost 1.27 million km (490,000 mi), making it the sixth-largest country in Africa and the second-largest landlocked nation in Africa behind Chad.
OrnithopodaOrnithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (). They represent one of the most successful groups of herbivorous dinosaurs during the Cretaceous. The most primitive members of the group were bipedal and relatively small-sized, while advanced members of the subgroup Iguanodontia became quadrupedal and developed large body size.
French languageFrench (français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, French and its closest relatives—the langues d'oïl, historically spoken in northern France and southern Belgium—descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. It was influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul and by the Germanic Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders.Elaphrosaurus
Geological formationA geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics (lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exposed in a geographical region (the stratigraphic column). It is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy, the study of strata or rock layers.*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.