Crocodilomorfos: A maior diversidade de répteis fósseis do Brasil

DOUGLAS RIFF; RAFAEL SOUZA; GIOVANNE CIDADE; AGUSTIN MARTINELLI; JONAS PEREIRA DE SOUZA-FILHO

Terrae

Instituto Geosciencias - UNICAMP

Lugar: Campinas; Año: 2012 vol. 9 p. 12 - 40

Most textbooks and divulgation medias devoted to the teaching of Geosciences and Biosciences explores the apparent familiarity of readers concerning dinosaurs to illustrate the process of fossilization, the paleontological heritage and the geological history of life. However, another lineage of reptiles, the crocodylomorphs, stands out when compared to other iconic fossil groups, and presents a remarkable species diversity, morphological disparity and ecological variety. With about 50 fossil species known in Brazil (almost three times the dinosaur record) and other under study, this group is particularly representative in the country, which also has six living species of caimans. Here we present a contextualized overview of the accumulated knowledge about these remarkable animals and their implications for understanding preterite biota and ecosystems, as well as demonstrating the inadequacy of considering the group as unchanged, or as ?living fossils?.