Nigersaurus taqueti Skull Fossil Cast

Here is the cast of a dinosaur skull fossil called Nigersaurus tauqueti. It is a cast of specimen MNN GAD512 at the Musée National du Niger, Niamey, Niger, Africa. This cast is from the holotype specimen found in "niveau des innocents" of the Gadoufaoua region of Republique du Niger. The species is named for French paleontologist Phillippe Taquet who explored the area from 1965-1972.

The head of this dinosaur with its neat rows of teeth reminds me of a wire crimping pliers tool.

Learn more about this type of dinosaur in this research article at PLOS One called Structural Extremes in a Cretaceous Dinosaur.

Dinosaur was named in the journal SCIENCE published 12 November 1999 in article entitled: Cretaceous Sauropods from the Sahara and the Uneven Rate of Skeletal Evolution Among Dinosaurs.

This cast was part of the Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gondwana exhibit at the Museum of Natural History and Science in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was photographed in August 2013. The dinosaur exhibit was created by the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto Canada.

The exhibit was supported by Associate Exhibit Sponsor Frisch's restaurant and Promotional Partners Cincinnati Reds baseball, newspaper The Enquirer and TV channel Local 12 WKRO Cincinnati.

Apatosaurus Skull/Vertebrae Fossils

Pictured is the fossilized skull and the first four cervical or neck vertebrae of an Apatosaurus sp. dinosaur. It was found by the staff and students of Marietta College at a site in Morrison Formation of Emery County, Utah, USA. The fossil dates to the Upper Jurassic Period (about 150 million years ago).

The fossil was collected as part of joint research program with the Cincinnati Museum Center (accession number VP7180).

The picture only shows the first four vertebrae of the more than dozen recovered at the site. This dinosaur was once known as the Brontosaurus.

Fossil on display at Cincinnati Museum of Natural History & Science as of August 2013.

Learn more about this dinosaur at wikipedia.org.

Compsognathus longipes Fossil Cast

This image is of a cast of a Compsognathus longipes fossil. It appears to be a copy made of fossil belonging to Joseph Oberndorfer of Germany. He acquired it in 1859 and it might be from the Painten Formation of Kapfelberg. This fossil dates to the Jurassic Period (about 150 million years ago).

This cast was part of the Ultimate Dinosaurs: Giants from Gondwana exhibit at the Museum of Natural History and Science in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was photographed in August 2013. The dinosaur exhibit was created by the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto Canada.

The exhibit was supported by Associate Exhibit Sponser Frisch's restaurant and Promotional Partners Cincinnati Reds baseball, newspaper The Enquirer and TV channel Local 12 WKRO Cincinnati.

See wikipedia.org web page about this fossil.