Amazonsaurus is a type of dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous Period, about 125 to 100 million years ago.
It was discovered in South America and is part of a family of large herbivorous dinosaurs known as sauropods. Amazonsaurus was a quadrupedal creature, meaning it walked on all four legs. It had a long neck and a tail that was likely quite flexible.
Although many relatives of Amazonsaurus were massive, reaching lengths of over 30 meters, Amazonsaurus was estimated to be around 12 meters long, which is about 40 feet. It likely weighed around 5000 kilograms.
Fossils of Amazonsaurus were found in the Itapecuru Formation in Brazil, specifically in the state of Maranhão. These fossils include parts of its backbone and tail, ribs, and hip bones. The area where the fossils were found suggests that it lived near river deltas in a floodplain environment.
You can recognize Amazonsaurus by the tall spines on its tail bones, which indicates its connection to the diplodocoids, a type of sauropod. However, scientists are still figuring out exactly where it fits within this group because the available fossils are not complete.
The name Amazonsaurus comes from the Amazon region of Brazil and the Greek word “sauros,” which means lizard. The species name, Amazonsaurus maranhensis, refers to Maranhão, the Brazilian state where it was found.
Amazonsaurus is notable because it is the first named dinosaur from the Amazon Basin. It was named by a team of Brazilian and Argentine paleontologists in 2003.
During the Early Cretaceous, several types of dinosaurs, including other basal diplodocoids, lived in South America and northern Africa. By the Late Cretaceous, many diplodocoids, including Amazonsaurus, had gone extinct, but other dinosaurs continued to thrive in the region.