Dinosaurs / Cretaceous / Abydosaurus
Abydosaurus
Cretaceous uh-BYE-doe-SAWR-us, “Abydos lizard”
Abydosaurus is a brachiosaurid sauropod known from the Early Cretaceous Cedar Mountain Formation of Utah. Sauropod skulls are remarkably delicate and rarely fossilise, yet Abydosaurus was described from exceptionally preserved specimens, including four skulls, one of which was intact. Its teeth were slender and peg-like rather than broad, indicating a dietary transition toward cropping softer vegetation without extensive chewing. Reaching estimated lengths of nearly twenty metres, Abydosaurus lived in a river flood basin alongside early iguanodontians and dromaeosaurids. The genus honors the ancient Egyptian city of Abydos, reflecting the mythological connection between Osiris, buried there, and the nearby Green River where the fossils were uncovered in Dinosaur National Monument.
It preserves the first complete skull ever discovered for a Cretaceous sauropod from the Americas.
Where and when
Abydosaurus lived in the Early Cretaceous, from 105 to 100.5 million years ago (Albian age). Its remains come from United States, in the Cedar Mountain Formation.
The numbers
Length 19 m (estimates run from 17 to 20 m). Mass about 18 t. Hip height about 5 m. That is 10.9 human-lengths, or 1.65 of a double-decker bus. These are estimates from partial skeleton; fields marked estimated by the site are length, mass, hip height.