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Dinosaurs and Cheeks - 2 - Nigersaurus

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As mentioned on my blog - [link] - ornithischians may not be the only animal for which "cheeks" are present, and sauropods include some oddities in which "lips" seem obvious (camarasaurs, brachiosaurs, some basal titanosaurs, omeisaurs, and indeed likely all other basal sauropods), in which there are large overlapping regions of jaw where "cheeks" may be unlikely as we know them (dicraeosaurs, diplodocids), or other taxa in which large gaps between the jaws must have been filled with "something" (rebbachisaurs like Nigersaurus taqueti, some titanosaurs).

The placeholder for weirdest sauropod jaw goes to Nigersaurus taqueti, whose head was oriented as shown, and which have a cadaverous gap between the upper and lower jaws. There are many ideas for what, if anything, filled this gap, including:

Zombie nigersaur, with no tissues; an extensive soft tissue "sock" around the mouth, and very similar to what artist Tyler Keillor has illustrated and modeled for it, comprising most certainly an extensive and thick fleshy tissue, covered in scales; a model where the corner of the mouth (the rictus) is expanded to fill the gap, but the tissue is thin and has no scales; and finally a "conventional' version where only "lips" are present.

Whichever model proves to be best remains to be seen, although some of these are popular for various reasons that do not seem worth arguing about; in the end, it is all exciting and interesting to look at the different ideas.
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TheDubstepAddict's avatar
I love 2. But 3. Seems the most legit one.