The rich dinosaur fauna of Niger was brought to scientific attention through French and Italian excavations in the 1960s and 1970s.
This led to the description of new genera from Lower Cretaceous rocks, most prominently the iguanodontian Ouranosaurus.
An older succession of rocks, the Tiourarén Formation, was explored by American palaeontologist Paul Sereno, who conducted a large-scale excavation campaign in Niger between 1999 and 2003.
Although initially thought to fall within the Lower Cretaceous, the formation is now thought to be of a much older Middle Jurassic age.
Sereno named new dinosaurs such as the sauropod Jobaria and the theropod Afrovenator from the Tiourarén; most finds were discovered along a cliff known as the Falaise de Tiguidit in the southern Agadez Region.
In Marendet, Sereno left partial Jobaria skeletons in the field as a tourist attraction.
Starting in 2003, the PALDES project (Paleontología y Desarrollo – "Palaeontology and development") was conducting excavations in the southern Agadez Region.
A cooperative effort between Spanish science and humanitarian institutions, PALDES aimed to combine palaeontological research with a developmental program for the region.
This included the improvement of infrastructure, education structures, and the promotion of tourism, including the planned construction of a new palaeontological museum in Tadibene.

Early in 2005, German explorers Ulrich Joger and Edgar Sommer explored the semi-deserts south of Agadez after local Tuaregs had informed Sommer about the occurrence of large bones in the region.
Sommer is the founder of CARGO, a relief organisation specialised in improving the local education system for the Tuareg people, while Joger is a biologist and the director of the State Natural History Museum, Braunschweig, Germany.
On their return route, they chatted with a group of Tuaregs who then directed them to a hilly area nearby that was littered with small bone fragments.
This locality (where dinosaurs had not been excavated before) is about 30 km (19 mi) north of the Falaise de Tiguidit and near the town of Aderbissinat in the Agadez Region, and part of the Irhazer Shale (or Argiles de l'Irhazer), a geological formation below (and thus slightly older than) the Tiourarén.
After a one-hour search, Joger discovered a rounded bone tip sticking out of the surface, which after further excavation turned out to be a complete femur (thigh bone) of what would later become the holotype specimen of Spinophorosaurus.
An associated scapula (shoulder blade) and a vertebra were discovered soon after.
The sediment in the locality, a hard but brittle siltstone, could be removed from the bones using light hammer blows.

Joger and Sommer then hired local Tuaregs for support and, after two days, had uncovered most of the specimen, which included a virtually complete, articulated vertebral column and several limb and pelvic bones.
The vertebral column formed an almost complete circle, the tip of the tail being located where the skull would be expected but was not found.
Lacking equipment and an excavation permit, they covered the specimen with debris for protection and returned to Germany, now planning a full-scale scientific excavation to be carried out by the Braunschweig museum.
An official excavation permit was promised to the museum in 2006 by the Republic of the Niger; in return, the museum was to build and equip a new school for local Tuareg children in the settlement of Injitane.
In the autumn of 2006, Sommer and Joger, together with other associates of the Braunschweig museum, revisited the site in preparation for the excavation, putting one of the pelvic bones in plaster to test equipment and methodology.
The team also discovered theropod tracks around 1 km (0.6 mi) from the site.
Sponsors for financing both the school and excavation were found early in 2007.
The official campaign, dubbed "Projekt Dino", started on March 1, 2007, when two trucks with equipment left Braunschweig for Niger, taking a route via Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, and Mali (the shorter route through th
The rich dinosaur fauna of Niger was brought to scientific attention through French and Italian excavations in the 1960s and 1970s. This led to the description of new genera from Lower Cretaceous rocks, most prominently the iguanodontian Ouranosaurus. An older succession of rocks, the Tiourarén Formation, was explored by American palaeontologist Paul Sereno, who conducted a large-scale excavation campaign in Niger between 1999 and 2003. Although initially thought to fall within the Lower Cretaceous, the formation is now thought to be of a much older Middle Jurassic age. Sereno named new dinosaurs such as the sauropod Jobaria and the theropod Afrovenator from the Tiourarén; most finds were discovered along a cliff known as the Falaise de Tiguidit in the southern Agadez Region. In Marendet, Sereno left partial Jobaria skeletons in the field as a tourist attraction. Starting in 2003, the PALDES project (Paleontología y Desarrollo – "Palaeontology and development") was conducting excavations in the southern Agadez Region. A cooperative effort between Spanish science and humanitarian institutions, PALDES aimed to combine palaeontological research with a developmental program for the region. This included the improvement of infrastructure, education structures, and the promotion of tourism, including the planned construction of a new palaeontological museum in Tadibene.
Early in 2005, German explorers Ulrich Joger and Edgar Sommer explored the semi-deserts south of Agadez after local Tuaregs had informed Sommer about the occurrence of large bones in the region. Sommer is the founder of CARGO, a relief organisation specialised in improving the local education system for the Tuareg people, while Joger is a biologist and the director of the State Natural History Museum, Braunschweig, Germany. On their return route, they chatted with a group of Tuaregs who then directed them to a hilly area nearby that was littered with small bone fragments. This locality (where dinosaurs had not been excavated before) is about 30 km (19 mi) north of the Falaise de Tiguidit and near the town of Aderbissinat in the Agadez Region, and part of the Irhazer Shale (or Argiles de l'Irhazer), a geological formation below (and thus slightly older than) the Tiourarén. After a one-hour search, Joger discovered a rounded bone tip sticking out of the surface, which after further excavation turned out to be a complete femur (thigh bone) of what would later become the holotype specimen of Spinophorosaurus. An associated scapula (shoulder blade) and a vertebra were discovered soon after. The sediment in the locality, a hard but brittle siltstone, could be removed from the bones using light hammer blows.
Joger and Sommer then hired local Tuaregs for support and, after two days, had uncovered most of the specimen, which included a virtually complete, articulated vertebral column and several limb and pelvic bones. The vertebral column formed an almost complete circle, the tip of the tail being located where the skull would be expected but was not found. Lacking equipment and an excavation permit, they covered the specimen with debris for protection and returned to Germany, now planning a full-scale scientific excavation to be carried out by the Braunschweig museum. An official excavation permit was promised to the museum in 2006 by the Republic of the Niger; in return, the museum was to build and equip a new school for local Tuareg children in the settlement of Injitane. In the autumn of 2006, Sommer and Joger, together with other associates of the Braunschweig museum, revisited the site in preparation for the excavation, putting one of the pelvic bones in plaster to test equipment and methodology. The team also discovered theropod tracks around 1 km (0.6 mi) from the site. Sponsors for financing both the school and excavation were found early in 2007. The official campaign, dubbed "Projekt Dino", started on March 1, 2007, when two trucks with equipment left Braunschweig for Niger, taking a route via Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, and Mali (the shorter route through th
Spinophorosaurus