Prehistoric Wild: Life in the Mesozoic

Hostile Crossing (112 MYA)

Elrhaz Formation, Niger, 112 Million Years Ago

On the eastern edge of West Africa lies the land of what is now Niger. In the modern day, its landscape is predominantly dominated by an arid desert. This sea of dunes is called the Ténéré and it stretches across an area of over 150,00 square miles, even occupying parts of Chad bordering to the east. Several mountain formations border this dry expanse, including the Aïr to the west, the Hoggar to the north, and the Tibetsi to the east. The only parts of this country not engulfed in these sands are the more tropical parts on the southern edge, where the otherwise scorched land meets the Niger River basin.

In the Early Cretaceous, this wetter, more humid environment is much more abundant. Wide rivers dominated the landscape, its waters seeping into most floodplains in between. The pinkish-orange glow of the early morning permeates the area, shining on the reflective, freshwater surface.

This light also reveals the many types of lush vegetation crowning the drastically different land divided by the water. The trees are primarily a mix of araucarians and ginkgos, casting many shadows across the brightly lit rivers. Beneath this canopy grows batches of lower foliage in the form of ferns, seed ferns, and horsetails, the latter growing more abundant in and near the streams with water ferns.

This swampy land is alive with the sounds of its many residents. Frogs regularly make their recognizable calls as they lie in wait for any insects to feast on. Flies, crickets, beetles, and dragonflies are the majority of their diet, each adding its own noises to the ambiance of these wetlands. More silent invertebrates are present, too, in the form of millipedes, scorpions, and spiders, the latter of which rests on webs that shimmer in the daylight.

Such small organisms aren't the only creatures to be found here. Wherever there are large quantities of lush vegetation, herbivores are bound to be drawn to them. And one dynasty fills this role in multiple varieties. They too add to the ambiance of the bog with noises ranging from honks, grunts, snorts, rumbles, booms, and creaking groans.

The first and most common is the peculiar Ouranosaurus. These are early predecessors of the hadrosaur family, better known as the "duck-bills." Their long, narrow heads feature this iconic trait, but they also end in a curved tip like their more famous relatives that will dominate the world of the Late Cretaceous. These beaks are perfect for snapping vegetation before chewing it up with batteries of tightly packed, ridge-covered teeth. The relatively short necks supporting these heads extend from robust, barrel-shaped bodies supported by four stout, muscular limbs. The longer back legs end in the traditional, spread-out, three toes seen on many dinosaurs while the shorter front ones end in broad, flat hands. Atop these bodies, tall vertebrae extend upwards to form large, sail-like humps on their backs. From the rear, long, thick, gradually tapering tails gently waver back and forth as they provide balance for these odd animals, adding to a total body length of up to 27 feet. Their scaly skin is primarily brownish-gray with spots of darker, charcoal shades mottled all over their bodies and a lighter white underbelly. Males have a bright, reddish-orange on their humps, allowing them to stand out against the females.

Another herbivorous oddity that feeds here in abundance is the Nigersaurus. This is an African member of the sauropod clade of long-necked dinosaurs, but its appearance is quite unlike many of its relatives. The first sign of this is its size, being no more than 30 feet in length and only weighing roughly 4-and-a-half tons. While such mass may be far from diminutive on its own, it's a far cry from the many giant sauropods that rival modern whales in size.

Another peculiarity with this animal is seen in its front. Not only is its neck shorter than most sauropods and held horizontally, but it also supports a strange-looking head with a wide, flat mouth, giving it the vague shape of a vacuum cleaner head. Within their jaws are up to 500 teeth, more than any other dinosaur, yet they're all at the front without a single one at the sides. This feature allows it to effectively munch through low-lying vegetation. Its stout, sturdy body has a flat back, long, narrowing tail, and four, pillar-like legs, the latter effectively bearing its weight as it moves with a gentle, plodding gait. The scaly skin is mainly a mix of dark green and black fading into each other with a separate, dull yellow underbelly.