Amazonsaurus Facts
| Diet | Herbivore |
| Height | 3.5m |
| Length | 12m |
| Weight | 5 tonnes |
| Environment | Land |
| Era | Cretaceous |
| Period | Early Cretaceous |
| Type | Sauropod |
| Location | South America |

| Diet | Herbivore |
| Height | 3.5m |
| Length | 12m |
| Weight | 5 tonnes |
| Environment | Land |
| Era | Cretaceous |
| Period | Early Cretaceous |
| Type | Sauropod |
| Location | South America |
Amazonsaurus was a moderately-sized sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous Period, approximately 119.57 million years ago, in what is now South America. This long-necked herbivore belonged to the diplodocoid group of sauropods, which were characterised by their extremely long necks and whip-like tails.
At around 12 metres in length and weighing approximately 5 tonnes, Amazonsaurus was considerably smaller than its more famous relatives like Diplodocus and Apatosaurus. Despite this, it retained the classic sauropod body plan: a long neck for reaching high vegetation, a barrel-shaped body supported by four pillar-like legs, and a lengthy tail that may have been used for defence or communication.
As a herbivore, Amazonsaurus would have fed on ferns, conifers, and other plants available in its Early Cretaceous environment. Its long neck allowed it to browse vegetation at various heights, from ground level up to the forest canopy. The dinosaur's teeth were likely adapted for stripping leaves rather than chewing, as sauropods typically swallowed plant material whole and relied on gastroliths (stomach stones) to aid digestion.
Amazonsaurus represents an important piece of the puzzle in understanding sauropod evolution and distribution across South America during the Cretaceous Period, when the supercontinent Gondwana was beginning to break apart.
Amazonsaurus was distinguished by its relatively modest size compared to other diplodocoid sauropods, measuring only 12 metres long rather than the enormous lengths achieved by later species. It possessed the characteristic diplodocoid features of an extremely long neck, whip-like tail, and relatively small head in proportion to its body.
Amazonsaurus likely lived in herds for protection against predators, as evidenced by trackway fossils of other sauropods from the same period. It would have spent most of its time foraging for vegetation, using its long neck to access food sources unavailable to shorter herbivorous dinosaurs.
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Saurischia |
| Family | Rebbachisauridae |
| Genus | Amazonsaurus |
Amazonsaurus was first described by Carvalho, Avilla and Salgado in 2003. The original fossils were discovered at Itapecuru Formation, Brazil.