Amargasaurus Temporal range: Lower Cretaceous
130–125 mya | |
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Family: | Dicraeosauridae
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Genus: | Amargasaurus
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Amargasaurus was a sauropod from the early Cretaceous period. It grew to 10 meters (33 feet) length, which was relatively small for a sauropod. It was a quadrupedal herbivore with a long, low skull on the end of a long neck, much like its relative Dicraeosaurus.
Amargasaurus was found in La Amarga, a canyon in Neuquén Province, Argentina.
Amargasaurus had two tall rows of spines on top of its backbone along the neck and back.[1]: 174 The function of the spines is not known. They may have operated as a defence from theropod attack from above. Another idea is that they supported a sail-like structure.
The neural spines were bifurcated along their entire length, forming a double row.[1]: 174 They were circular in cross section and tapered towards their tips.[1]: 174 The tallest spines could be found on the middle part of the neck, where they reached 60 cm on the 8th cervical.[1]: 174 On the neck, they were bowed backwards, projecting above the adjacent vertebra.[2]: 304 Greatly elongated spines continue along the last two dorsal vertebrae, the hip and foremost tail. However, in these regions the spines were not bifurcated but flared into a paddle-shaped upper end.[3]: 1139