Amazonsaurus Temporal range: 125–100 Ma Early Cretaceous |
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Reconstruction of Amazonsaurus maranhensis. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Sauropsida |
Superorder: | Dinosauria |
Order: | Saurischia |
Suborder: | Sauropodomorpha |
Infraorder: | Sauropoda |
Superfamily: | Diplodocoidea |
Family: | Rebbachisauridae |
Genus: | Amazonsaurus |
Species: | A. maranhensis |
Binomial name | |
Amazonsaurus maranhensis Carvalho et al., 2003 |
Amazonsaurus (/ˌæməzənˈsɔːrəs/ AM-ə-zən-SAWR-əs, "Amazon lizard") is a genus of diplodocoid sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous Period of what is now South America. It would have been a large-bodied quadrupedal herbivore with a long neck and whiplash tail. Although more derived diplodocoids were some of the longest animals ever to exist, Amazonsaurus was probably not more than 12 meters (40 ft) long. Gregory S. Paul estimated in 2010 its weight at 5000 kg.
Despite the fact that other dinosaurs have been found in Brazil, this is the first named genus from territory in the Amazon Basin. The generic name is derived from the Brazilian Legal Amazon region and the Greek word sauros ("lizard"). There is one named species, (A. maranhensis), which is named after the Brazilian state of Maranhão. Both genus and species were named in 2003 by Brazilian paleontologists Ismar de Souza Carvalho and Leonardo dos Santos Avilla, and their Argentine colleague, Leonardo Salgado.