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Amazonsaurus, Early CretaceousItapecuru Formation, Brazil · named 2003
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Amazonsaurus

"Amazon lizard"

Lived
120 to 106 million years ago, Early Cretaceous
Diet
Herbivore
Group
Sauropods, Rebbachisauridae
Found in
Brazil
Named by
Carvalho et al. 2003

Where its fossils were found

The evidence

Today

1 find

115 million years ago

Map: C. R. Scotese, PALEOMAP

Habitat

Rivers carried sand into a lake, building deltas in what is now northern Brazil. Turtles and mollusks were found in the same layer, and Dasosaurus is another sauropod recorded from the Itapecuru Formation.

Field notes

About Amazonsaurus

What it was like

Amazonsaurus was a rebbachisaur, a long-necked plant eater from a family related to Diplodocus. It is known from a few backbones and hip bones.

Its world

It lived in the Early Cretaceous in what is now northern Brazil. Its bones come from the Itapecuru Formation.

How it was found

Carvalho and colleagues named Amazonsaurus in 2003, from a single find. It was one of the first dinosaurs named from that part of Brazil.

Field gallery

More views of Amazonsaurus

Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.

Amazonsaurus in its habitat, photo 1

1 of 3

Lived alongside

Found in the same rock formations

A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Amazonsaurus.

The evidence

The science behind Amazonsaurus

Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.

From its own fossils

  • The find includes crushed back vertebrae, tail vertebrae, ribs and parts of the hips, all reported from a single animal.
  • Its tail vertebrae have tall, backward-leaning spines, with thin side ridges of bone that bend forward.
  • The partial hip bone is broad and tall, and may have held an air space inside.

Borrowed from relatives

  • The missing head and neck are restored by comparison with Lavocatisaurus, a rebbachisaur known from much of its skull, with Nigersaurus as a guide to the top of the head and the eyes.
  • The shoulders and limbs follow a general sauropod plan, using the more distant Mnyamawamtuka as a guide.

Still unknown

  • The shape of its skull and teeth.
  • Its complete body length and neck proportions.
  • Its skin texture and color.

Discovery timeline

  1. 2003Named itde Souza Carvalho, dos Santos Avilla & Salgado
  2. 2007Close relativeSereno et al.
  3. 2015Family treeFanti et al.
  4. 2018Close relativeCanudo et al.
  5. 2019Close relativeLindoso et al.

Key papers

The research behind what we know of Amazonsaurus

Close relatives

Other members of Rebbachisauridae

Sources: Wikidata