PALEONTOLOGY  LAB
Universidade de São Paulo - Ribeirão Preto

Serra das Inhumas, Campina Verde-MG

barra

RESEARCH
 

Aplestosuchus sordidus

Baurusuchid crocodyliform from the Cretaceous rocks (cc. 80 Ma) of the São Paulo State. It has remainings of a smaller crocodylian (Sphagesauridae) preserved in its abdominal region. Described in 2014 by Pedro Godoy, Felipe Montefeltro, Max langer and coleagues.

Australerpeton cosgriffi

Temnospondyl "amphibian" collected from Permian rocks (c. 250 My) in the Serra do Cadeado area (Paraná, Brazil). Discovered during the eighties by researchers of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, it has been reaccessed by Estevan Eltink and co-workers. It was a large aquatic predator of about 2 m in length.

Batrachomimus pastobonensis

Paralligatoridae crocodylian collected in 2012 by the PaleoLab team in Nova Iorque, Maranhão. It is from jurassic rocks (c. 150 My), and it is the only knownn tetrapod from the Jurassic of Brasil. Batrachomimus was described in 2013 by Felipe Montefeltro, Max Langer and coleagues.

Bentonyx sidensis

Rhynchosaur "reptile" collected from Triassic rocks (c. 235 My) in the south coast of Devon-UK. Discovered in 2005 by University of Bristol researchers, it was redescribed by Max Langer, Felipe Montefeltro, and co-workers in 2010. The generic name is an homage to Michael Benton, "rhynchosaur champion" and former supervisor of Max Langer.

Cambaremys langertoni

Fossil turtle collected from Late Cretaceous rocks (c. 70 My) near Uberaba (Minas Gerais, Brazil). Discovered during the nineties by researchers of Centro de Pesquisasa Paleontológicas "Llewelin Ivor Price", it was described by Marco França e Max Langer in 2005. It corresponds to a Podocnemoidae, a turtle group currently known only in the Amazon and in Madagascar.

Candidodontidae

The Candidodontidae were small-bodied crocodyliforms previously known only in Africa and northeastern Brazil. Felipe Montefeltro, Carolina Laurini, and Max Langer described isolated teeth of these animals collected from Late Crateceous rocks (c. 70 My) near Ibirá (São Paulo, Brazil), extending their geographical distribution.

Cearadactylus atrox

Pterosaur (flying reptile) collected from cretaceous rocks (c. 110 My) in the Araripe Plateau (Ceará, Brazil). Originally described during the eighties by Guiseppe Leonardi and Guido Borgomanero, it is being redescribed by Bruno Vila Nova and co-workers. It was a medium sized, fish eating pterosaur.

Colombophis

Genus referred during the seventies to the Anilioidea snakes by Robert Hoffstter and Jean-Claude Rage. It was revised in the PhD of Annie Schmaltz Hsiou and its position amongst the Alethinophidia snakes suggests a more basal phylogenetic position. It includes two species, C. portai and C. spinosus, known from Miocene rocks of Acre (Brasil), Colombia and Venezuela.

Crocodile eggs

Fossil eggs are more common that one might guess. Crocodile eggs collected between 2008 and 2009 from Cretaceous rocks (c. 80 My) in the Pontal do Triângulo area (Minas Gerais, Brazil) are under study by Júlio Marsola, Felipe Montefeltro, Max Langer, and co-workers.

Dasypus punctatus

Dasypus, the armadillo know in Brazil as "tatu-galinha" had fossil relatives as this Pleistocene (c. 10.000 years) species. Its better preserved skeleton was collected during the seventies near Sorocaba (São Paulo, Brazil). Originally described by Carlos de Paula Couto, it is under redescription by Mariela Castro, Max Langer and co-workers.

Decuriasuchus quartacolonia

Rauisuchian archosaur collected from Triassic rocks (c. 240 My) in the Quarta Colônia area (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Discovered in 2000 by researchers of Fundação ZooBotânica do Rio Grande do Sul, and described by Marco França, Max Langer and co-authors in 2011. Nine skeletons were found together, suggesting a probable gregarious behavior.

Guaibasaurus candelariensis

Basal saurischian dinosaur collected from Triassic rocks (c. 220 My) near Candelária and Faxinal do Soturno (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Discovered between 1998-2003 by the Argentinean palaeontologist José Bonaparte, and redescribed by Max Langer, Jonathas Bittencourt e co-authors in 2011.

Hybodontidae

Hybodontids were medium-sized sharks of broad distribution during the Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic. Teeth and spines of these animals were collected from the Permian rocks (c. 250 My) in the Serra do Cadeado area (Paraná, Brazil) and studied by Carolina Laurini & Max Langer.

Lewisuchus admixtus

A dinosaurian lineage Archosaur from the Triassic (c. 240 My)of Northwest Argentina. Originally collected in the 60's by a Harvard University team, it was recently revised by Jonathas Bittencourt, Max Langer and coleagues. Lewisuchus admixtus was a small terrestrian predator with about 1 m length.


Otozoum

Fieldworks between 2013 and 2014 by Simone D'Orazi Porchetti and colleagues in outcrops of the Etjo Formation, in Namibia, led to the description of the first Otozoum trackway from that Formation in the Waterberg area. The presence of this ichnotaxon helps constraining the age of this unit to the Lower Jurassic, and is the first of its kind from Namibia. Works are ongoing, and new footprints have been recently found in the Twyfelfontein Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Northwestern Namibia) which are reminiscent of Brasilichnium, a typical form of erg-dominated hyper-arid environments, first described from the Botucatu Formation (?Lower Cretaceous, Paraná Basin, Brazil).

Pampadromaeus barberenai

Sauropodomorph dinosaur collected from Triassic rocks (c. 230 My) near Agudo (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Discovered in 2005 by researchers of Universidade Luterana do Brasil and described by Max Langer, Jonathas Bittencourt, and co-authors in 2011. It was a small, about 1.5 m long, herbivorous animal.

Pissarrachampsa sera

Baurusuchid crocodyliform collected from Late Cretaceous rocks (c. 80 My) in the Pontal do Triângulo area (Minas Gerais, Brazil). Discovered and described by Felipe Montefeltro, Max Langer and co-workers between 2008 and 2011. It was a large predator, more terrestrial than modern crocodiles.

Sacisaurus agudoensis

Dinosauromorph collected from Triassic rocks (c. 225 My) in the outskirts of Agudo (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Discovered in 2000 by researchers of Fundação ZooBotânica do Rio Grande do Sul, it was described by Max Langer and co-authors in 2007. The generic name refers to "saci" a mythological figure of Brazilian lore.

Saturnalia tupiniquim

Sauropodomorph dinosaur collected from Triassic rocks (c. 230 My) in the outskirts of Santa Maria (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil); it is one of the oldest known dinosaurs. The three known skeletons were discovered in 1998 by researchers of the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUC/RS) and described by Max Langer and co-authors in various papers along 1999 e 2007. It was a small, about 1.5 m long, herbivorous animal.

Smilodon populator

The famous South-American saber-tooted cat is broadly distributed on the Brazilian Pleistocene (c. 10.000 years). Its first record in São Paulo (Apiaí municipality) corresponds to a skeleton collected by researchers of Museu de Zoologia (USP) and described by Mariela Castro & Max Langer.

Staurikosaurus pricei

One of the oldest known carnivorous dinosaurs; collected in 1934 from Triassic rocks (c. 230 My) near Santa Maria (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) during a join expedition of the Departamento Nacional de Produção Mineral (DNPM) and Harvard University, and redescribed by Jonathas Bittencourt and co-authorns in 2008.

Tachiraptor admirabilis

Second dinosaur (first theropod) described from Venezuela. Discovered in 2012 by a team of the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, together with the PaleoLab, in early Jurassic rocks (cc. 200 My) in the Mérida Cordillera (north of the Andes). Describe by Max Langer and colleagues in 2013.


Teyumbaita sulcognathus

Rhynchosaur "reptile" collected from Triassic rocks (c. 230 My) near Candelária (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Discovered during the eighties by researchers of Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, and described by Felipe Montefeltro, Max Langer and co-author in 2011. The genus name means "parrot-lizard" in the indigenous Tupi language.

Tupinambis uruguaianensis

Large-bodied lizard collected from Pleistocene deposits (c. 10.000 years) near Uruguaiana (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Discovered during the nineties, and described by Annie Schmaltz Hsiou in 2007.

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