In Depth
Although certainly not the only dinosaur to be discovered in Brazil, Amazonsaurus was still the first discovered within the Amazon Basin. Amazonsaurus is confirmed as a diplodocoid sauropod, but the lack of fossil remains makes it difficult to tell what kind. One possibility is that Amazonsaurus might be a rebbachisaurid, a sub group of the Diplodocoidea whose members are known from the early Cretaceous with some actually living in South America.
Study of the areas that the Amazonsaurus holotype was recovered from indicates that back in the early Cretaceous it was a floodplain associated with a river delta. Assuming that the Amazonsaurus remains were not washed down there from a location upstream, this would see Amazonsaurus roaming in low lying; relatively open ground while feeding upon low growing vegetation.
Further Reading
- Amazonsaurus maranhensis gen. et sp. nov. (Sauropoda, Diplodocoidea) from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian) of Brazil, Ismar de Souza Carvalho, Leonardo dos Santos Avilla & Leonardo Salgado - 2003. – Lower Cretaceous rebbachisaurid sauropods from Cerro Aguada del Le�n (Lohan Cura Formation), Neuqu�n Province, northwestern Patagonia, Argentina. – L. Salgado, A. Garrido, S. E. Cocca & J. R. Cocca – 2004.
