RIOJAN PALEOHERPETOLOGY FROM THE CRILAR: HISTORY OF FINDINGS AND TRANSFERENCE. Paleoherpetologia riojana desde el CRILAR: una historia de hallazgos y transferencia

FIORELLI, LUCAS ERNESTO; HECHENLEITNER, ESTEBAN MARTIN; IVANA AMELOTTI, E.

Publicacion Electronica de la Asociacion Paleontologica Argentina

Asociacion Paleontologica Argentina

Año: 2022 vol. 22 p. 88 - 106

Since the creation of the CRILAR (Centro Regional de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia Tecnológica) more than 20 years ago in the province of La Rioja, paleoherpetology has been present throughout its research and outreach history. In this paper, the details of its creation, its initial objectives, and the difficult first years are narrated. It will describe how and when the institute´s paleoherpetological studies began, as well as the discovery of the Sanagasta nesting site, the rediscovery of the Cretaceous of Los Llanos, the paleontological works in Quebrada Santo Domingo, and the investigations in the Triassic of the extraordinary Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin. In addition to the different lines of research, various colleagues who collaborate with CRILAR and the inter-institutional networks generated during its history are mentioned. CRILAR is the only CONICET research center in La Rioja Province, but it is also an institution for scientific outreach. These aspects are addressed in detail throughout this paper.