PALEOHERPETOLOGY AT THE MUSEO PALEONTOLÓGICO EGIDIO FREUGLIO (TRELEW, CHUBUT) Paleoherpetologia en el Museo Paleontologico Egidio Feruglio (Trelew, Chubut)

STERLI, JULIANA; POL, DIEGO; CARBALLIDO, JOSE LUIS; PUERTA, PABLO; VLACHOS, EVANGELOS

Publicacion Electronica de la Asociacion Paleontologica Argentina

Asociacion Paleontologica Argentina

Año: 2022 vol. 22 p. 359 - 380

The extinct herpetofauna of the Chubut Province is one of the most diverse, temporally and spatially extensive, and well-known extinct faunas in Argentina and South America. These fossils help understanding the evolution of the herpetofauna during more than 180 million years, not only in the Patagonian region, but also in a worldwide scale due to the importance of some of them. Since its establishment in 1990, the Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio (MPEF) plays a key role in the discovery, protection, study, and display of the important fossils of the Province. The paleoherpetological study at MPEF went through three different stages: the Initial, the Intermediate, and the Current stages. At present, the paleoherpetological collection contains approximately 960 specimens of amphibians and reptiles-including turtles, lepidosaurs, plesiosaurs, crocodiles, pterosaurs, dinosaurs, and birds-found in sedimentary formations that span from the Early Jurassic to the late Miocene. Based on this material, at least 32 new species were named, and more than 200 studies were published in less than three decades.