Amazonsaurus maranhensis

†Amazonsaurus maranhensis was a diplodocoid sauropod from the Early Cretaceous (~110 Ma) of Maranhão State, Brazil. A large quadrupedal herbivore, it was named by Carvalho et al. in 2003 — the first dinosaur described from the Brazilian Amazon Basin. Its discovery demonstrated that sauropods persisted in equatorial South America through the Early Cretaceous, contributing to Gondwanan paleobiogeography.

Diet & Feeding

Herbivore

Amazonsaurus maranhensis was a plant-eating dinosaur. Herbivores typically fed on ferns, cycads, conifers, and other vegetation available during their era. Many herbivorous dinosaurs developed specialized teeth and digestive systems for processing tough plant material.

Time Period

Cretaceous Early Mesozoic Era

Amazonsaurus maranhensis lived during the Cretaceous Early period of the Mesozoic Era, approximately 145.0 to 100.5 million years ago.

The Cretaceous saw continued dinosaur evolution with the rise of ornithopods and early ceratopsians. Flowering plants first appeared and began to transform terrestrial ecosystems. Spinosaurus and other large theropods lived during this time.