Amazonsaurus maranhensis

Amazonsaurus was a Sauropod from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. It is known from a fragmentary skeleton that does not allow to classify it with certainty beyond the diplodocoid.

Name

Amazonsaurus maranhensis

Authority

Carvalho, Avilla, Salgado, 2003

Meaning of generic name

Amazon lizard.

Meaning of specific name

From the Brazilian state of Maranhão.

Size

Length: 12 m, Skull length: [not given]

Remains

Holotype: MN 4558-V (dorsal neural spine), UFRJ-DG 58-R/9 (dorsal neural spine), MN 4559-V (dorsal centrum), MN s/n-V (dorsal centrum), neural spine of anterior caudal vertebra (UFRJ-DG 58-R/7), one mid caudal vertebra (MN 4555-V), one mid-posterior caudal vertebra (MN 4560-V), one posterior caudal vertebra (MN 4556-V), one posterior caudal vertebra (UFRJ-DG 58-R/10), four cehvrons (UFRJ-DG 58-R/2 through [...] 58-R/5), four more chevrons (MN 4564-V), ilium (UFRJ0-DG 58-R/1), partial pubis (MN s/n-V), and three ribs (MN 4562-V)..

Age and Distribution

Horizon: Itapecuru Formation, Lower Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian).

Locality: Mata, Itapecuru-Mirim County, Maranhão State, Brazil.

Classification

Dinosauria Saurischia Sauropodomorpha Sauropoda Diplodocoidea

Further Reading

I. d. S. Carvalho, L. d. S. Avilla, and L. Salgado. 2003. Amazonsaurus maranhensis gen. et sp. nov. (Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea) from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian) of Brazil. Cretaceous Research 24:697-713.