In Depth
The lightly built skull of Abrosaurus (which is the inspiration for the name ‘delicate lizard’) clearly indicates that it was a macronarian sauropod, similar to genera such as Brachiosaurus and Camarasaurus. Camarasaurus in particular has been considered to be a very close relative of Abrosaurus because they both seem to represent basal (primitive) genera that were on the way to becoming more advanced like the later macronarian sauropods. The idea is tentative however because most descriptions of Abrosaurus centre around the skull and not the additional post cranial skeletal fossils that were later attributed to it. While future study of these remains may well confirm the idea that Abrosaurus is closely related to Camarasaurus, they may also reveal something unexpected.
Abrosaurus likely shared is habitat with other sauropods like Omeisaurus, Shunosaurus and Dashanpusaurus (another possible relative of Camarasaurus) as well as other types of herbivorous dinosaur such as Agilisaurus and Huayangosaurus, all dinosaurs known from the same fossil formation as Abrosaurus. Numerous predatory dinosaurs are also known from the Lower Shaximiao Formation, but one in particular is Yangchuanosaurus, a particularly large theropod dinosaur that may have been able to tackle an Abrosaurus.
Further Reading
– [A new sauropod from Dashanpu, Zigong Co., Sichuan Province (Abrosaurus dongpoensis gen. et sp. nov.)]. – Zigong Dinosaur Museum Newsletter 2:10-14 – H. Ouyang – 1989.
