{"id":224,"date":"2024-01-31T11:35:44","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T14:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/?p=224"},"modified":"2024-07-25T15:14:18","modified_gmt":"2024-07-25T18:14:18","slug":"paleontological-discovery-in-the-municipality-of-dona-francisca-unveils-a-new-chapter-in-the-evolution-of-mammalian-ancestors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/2024\/01\/31\/paleontological-discovery-in-the-municipality-of-dona-francisca-unveils-a-new-chapter-in-the-evolution-of-mammalian-ancestors","title":{"rendered":"Paleontological discovery in the municipality of Dona Francisca unveils a new chapter in the evolution of mammalian ancestors \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The name of the specimem, Paratraversodon franciscaensis, pays homage to the city of Quarta Col\u00f4nia\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Paratraversodon skull<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The discovery of a new cynodont specimen, a mammalian ancestor animal, in\u00a0Dona Francisca, in the central region of the state, was published this Monday (29) in the North American journal The Anatomical Record<\/a>. The study was conducted by a team of researchers lead by the paleontologist Leonardo Kerber, from the Center for Paleontological Research Support of Quarta Col\u00f4nia<\/em> (CAPPA) at Universidade Federal de Santa Maria<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The information pertains\u00a0to a discovery made in\u00a02009 by paleontologists L\u00facio Roberto-da-Silva and S\u00e9rgio Cabreira in the municipality of Dona Francisca. In the location, within layers of sedimentary rock formed during the Triassic Period, approximately 241-236 million years ago, a complete skull accompanied by a jaw was found. This discovery occurred on the lands of the Bortolin family, in an area that has become crucial for\u00a0understanding the distant past of the region. The skull belonged to a cynodont, an evolutionary link between reptiles and mammals, which inhabited the region even before the emergence of dinosaurs. Complete specimens from this period are extremely rare, adding significant value to\u00a0the discovery. However, for several years, the precise identity of this animal remained unknown. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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More than a decade after the initial collection, the researchers resumed studying the fossil. The precise\u00a0identification of the specimen demanded\u00a0meticulous comparisons with tens\u00a0of other fossils from Brazilian, German, and British\u00a0scientific collections. The process involved tomography of the specimen using a high-resolution microtomography scanner, enabling\u00a0a view of anatomical structures that are not visible externally. The results revealed that\u00a0the animal exhibited unique features that did not align with any\u00a0known cynodont specimen. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Paratraversodon franciscaensis\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Artistic reconstruction of Paratraversodon (by J\u00falia D\u2019Oliveira)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Paying homage to the municipality where it was discovered, the researchers named the new specimen Paratraversodon franciscaensis. This designation not only recognizes the importance of the location but also emphasizes\u00a0the uniqueness of the discovery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The animal belonged to the herbivorous\u00a0Traversodontidae group. The study also revealed that, unlike current mammals, it is possible that it was an ectothermic animal, meaning that\u00a0it had \u201ccold blood\u201d, similar to the thermal behaviors observed in lizards and crocodiles. During the Triassic period, most creatures\u00a0had this type\u00a0of metabolism, as\u00a0temperatures were significantly higher than they are today. Additionally, the evidence suggests that these animals did not have fur, differing from the typical features of contemporary\u00a0mammals. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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With information and pictures provided\u00a0by CAPPA\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Original text: https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/2024\/01\/30\/descoberta-paleontologica-no-municipio-de-dona-francisca-revela-novo-capitulo-na-evolucao-dos-ancestrais-dos-mamiferos<\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n

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The name of the specimem, Paratraversodon franciscaensis, pays homage to the city of Quarta Col\u00f4nia\u00a0 The discovery of a new cynodont specimen, a mammalian ancestor animal, in\u00a0Dona Francisca, in the central region of the state, was published this Monday (29) in the North American journal The Anatomical Record. The study was conducted by a team […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4442,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-noticias"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4442"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ufsm.br\/global\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}