News | MacroPaleoLab

"Ten rules" preprint

21/03/2025

New preprint, with Pedro as a co-author, posted today on EcoEvoRxiv. It focuses on data cleaning for paleontological analyses. More specifically, ten "rules" are suggested for those that want to work with fossil occurrence data, such as those downloaded from the Paleobiology Database.

Research proposal funded!

15/03/2025

Fantastic news! Our FAPESP (São Paulo research Foundation) grant was approved! The project aims to characterize patterns of evolution and diversity of amniotes using paleontological data, focusing on systematics, macroevolution and paleoecology. For the next 5 years, we'll have funding for fieldwork, geochemistry analyses, equipment and scholarships for students. So, there's many cool research to come! More information at FAPESP webpage.

New Brazilian notosuchian

18/02/2025

With the participation of our postdoc Daniel dos Santos, this new paper in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (again!) describes a new notosuchian species Thilastikosuchus scutorectangularis, from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. This is a very important addition to a cool but relatively understudied group of notosuchians, Candidodontidae, which includes some small forms from Brazil and Africa. This nice illustration is from Felipe Alves Elias.

The Pleistocene bush dog confirmed!

28/01/2025

In a new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology and led by Juan Ruiz, multiple approaches are used to compare the morphology of the Pleistocene bush dog (Speothos pacivorus) to that of other Cerdocyonina, including the extant bush dog (S. venaticus). We confirm the taxonomic validity of S. pacivorus, and also explore it's paleobiology based on biomechanical assessments. Once more, the amazing paleoart was done by Júlia D'Oliveira.

MacroPaleo lab at the Paleo-SP meeting

14/12/2024

Many lab members went to Campinas to present their work at the annual regional meeting Paleo-SP 2024, which took place at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). In total, seven posters were presented on a single day! It was a blast!

Fernanda at PalAss

12/12/2024

Our very own Fernanda presented at her first international conference: the PalAss annual meeting that took place at FAU in Erlangen (Germany). We were very proud of her (and her amazing poster)!

Another "Paleo Natal"!

07/12/2024

We celebrated the end of the year once again in another edition of the "Paleo Natal". Thanks Ana for organizing everything!

Redescription of Barreirosuchus

02/12/2024

Published today, in The Anatomical Record, a new study reassessing the cranial morphology and phylogenetic affinities of Barreirosuchus franciscoi, a peirosaurian from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. Led by Dr. Thiago Fachini, this paper also uses CT-scan data to reconstruct the endocast of this specimen this notosuchian from the Adamantina Formation.

Ana Clara's undergrad project

29/11/2024

Our undergrad student, Ana Clara, presented today the results of her project working on Conservation Paleobiology of crocodylians. She characterized long-term extinction and diversity patterns to better inform us about the conservation of living species of the group.

Thayara's postdoc project got funded!

14/11/2024

Today we got the fantastic news that Thayara's project got funded! She will receive funding from CAPES to develop her postdoc on the impact of the Pleistocene extinction on the functional diversity of terrestrial South American mammals, also testing the impact of introduced domestic species (such as cattle). She has been already working hard on it (as you can see on the photo), and we're looking forward to the initial results!

New paper on giant crocodylians

09/11/2024

Published today in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, a new paper by PhD student Ana Laura Paiva (supervised by Max Langer and Annie Hsiou). This study shows how the climate of the Western Amazonian region during the Miocene allowed the emergence of giant caimanine crocodylians, such as Purussaurus. Fantastic paleoart by André Martins.

We joined a collaborative research group

01/11/2024

Five members of the MacroPaleo Lab (Pedro, Thayara, Ana Clara, Fernanda and Jorge) have now joined the collaborative research group on Conservation Paleobiology. This group, led by Matias Ritter and Fernando Erthal, is one of the first efforts in Brazil to establish research projects on the relatively new field.

Thayara wins the prize!

20/10/2024

Besides all the fun we had in Maceió for the CBP, some of us were also working hard. The best example was Thayara, who won the prize for best presentation (PhD-level)! Thayara got her PhD from the São Paulo State University (UNESP) last year, and the prize-winning research focused on terrestrial and marine mammals from the Pleistocene of south Brazil.

The MacroPaleo Lab at the conference!

20/10/2024

We had a great time attending the XXVIII Brazilian Congress of Paleontology, that took place in beautiful Maceió. It was a very fruitful meeting, with lots of great interactions and possible new collaborations. It was also the first conference of Fernanda and Ana Clara!

Single origin of tympanic hearing in reptiles

10/10/2024

Published today, in Current Biology, a new paper using both paleontological and developmental data to demonstrate a single evolutionary origin of the tympanic ear in crown-reptiles. This was a collaborative effort, with researchers from many institutions. Artwork by Júlia D'Oliveira.

Talks at FMU

04/09/2024

Pedro and Daniel were invited to participate in a seminar series on Biology at FMU (Centro Universitário das Faculdades Metropolitanas Unidas), in São Paulo. They gave talks about crocodylomorphs and how to become a paleontologist.

Jorge's project got funded

03/09/2024

Today we the good news about Jorge's project! It was funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). Jorge will be another student developing a research project on Conservation Paleobiology, in this case focused on Testudines.

New undergrad student

02/09/2024

Today was the first official day of Sofia as our newest undergrad student. Her project was funded by the University of São Paulo, and aims to reconstruct the ancestral ecology of snakes. Welcome Sofia!

Meet Epoidesuchus

30/08/2024

Published today, in The Anatomical Record, a new paper describing new crocodylomorph material from the Late Cretaceous of Brazil. The new species, Epoidesuchus tavaresae, was a pepesuchinae peirosaurid with a long snout and possibly a semiaquatic lifestyle. The study was led by Juan Ruiz and the paleoart was done by Guilherme Gehr.

Celebrating!

24/08/2024

Last Saturday we had fun celebrating the recently funded projects (Fernanda's and Gabriela's) at the "official" MacroPaleo Lab's bar (Galpaozin).

Gabriela's project was funded!

05/08/2024

We are so happy to announce that Gabriela undergrad project was funded by FAPESP! She will be looking at snake diversification rates through time using the Python program PyRate, which uses fossil occurrence data to estimate speciation, extinction and diversification rates under a Bayesian framework.

Notosuchian phylogenetic nomenclature

05/08/2024

Published today in The Bulletin of Phylogenetic Nomenclature, this paper deals with the phylogenetic nomenclature of notosuchian crocodylomorphs. It is the result of great team effort, an international collaboration led by Dr. Juan Leardi (Universidad de Buenos Aires).

Fernanda will go to Germany!

02/08/2024

We are thrilled that Fernanda's project to conduct research abroad was funded! She will soon move to Germany, to develop part of her project in the lab of Dr. Sebastian Höhna, at LMU (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München). Thanks to the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for the funding.

New preprint

30/07/2024

In a new preprint posted in EcoEvoRxiv, simulations are used to show the importance (and limits) of the incorporation of fossils in phylogenetic comparative methods, specifically for model-fitting analyses of continuous traits. The work was led by Dr. Will Gearty (AMNH), with Pedro among the coauthors.

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Fieldwork in Peru

08/07/2024

For one week, the crew led by Dr. Max Langer (FFCLRP-USP) prospected fossils from rocks of the Chota Formation (Late Cretaceous) in the region of Bagua Grande (Peru). Among the findings were fragments and teeth of dinosaurs and crocodylomorphs.

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Workshop taught at Trujillo

28/06/2024

From the 25th to the 27th of June, a workshop on Paleontology was taught at the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, in Peru. The workshop was organized by Dr. Carolina Espinoza (anthropologist at the UNT) and taught by Brazilian paleontologists, including Pedro, who gave talks about crocodylomorphs and macroevolution.

3D models of Speothos pacivorus

14/05/2024

Published today, at the online journal MorphoMuseuM, a short paper on the holotype of the Pleistocene bush dog Speothos pacivorus. The holotype of this Brazilian taxon was collected by Peter Lund in the 19th century (at the Lagoa Santa Karst), and it has been housed at the Peter Lund/Quaternary Collection of the Natural History Museum of Denmark since then. Now, the 3D models of the specimen are also available online. Work led by Juan Ruiz.

Fieldwork in Monte Alto

02/05/2024

The first ever fieldwork of the MacroPaleo Lab! We (Pedro and Thayara) spent one week in Monte Alto (SP), prospecting for fossils in the Late Cretaceous rocks of the Bauru Group. Although we didn't find any taxonomically significant fossils, we brought some samples to São Paulo for geochemistry analyses. Thanks to Thiago and Donato (members the Paleolab-USP/RP) who were also part of the crew.

Fernanda's project was funded!

07/04/2024

We were delighted with the big news this Friday! Fernanda's undergrad project was funded by the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP). She will be investigating the extinction patters (and possible drivers) in sloths. It is also the first time a project from the MacroPaleo LAb is funded by FAPESP. Art by Mauricio Antón.

Visit to the Paleontology Museum of Marília

29/03/2024

Pedro and Daniel went to city of Marília to visit the local Museum of Paleontology. The director, William Nava, showed us many different fossils collected by him during the last decades. We also really enjoyed the refurbished exhibitions, which reopened two years ago. We are eager to new collaborations that will come!

Visit to the Museum of Zoology

10/03/2024

Last Sunday, we had a lovely lab get-together at the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo. Almost every lab member joined us to see some very cool taxidermied animals and nice casts of fossils (including this Tapuiasaurus behind us). We also really enjoyed the temporary exhibition on electric fish!

New Syrian elasmosaurid plesiosaur

07/03/2024

The most complete (and possibly the oldest) plesiosaur from the Middle East was described (access it here) by an international team led by Dr Wafa Alhababi, a Syrian-Brazilian paleontologist, with the participation of Pedro Godoy. It's the first of a series of studies led by Wafa on Syrian vertebrate fossils. Paleoart by Júlia D'Oliveira.

Description of a juvenile baurusuchid

04/03/2024

And the first lab paper of the year goes to... Daniel dos Santos! This is one of the results of Daniel's PhD, completed in the end of 2023. In this new paper (access it here), Daniel and colleagues provide a very detailed cranial and postcranial description of a juvenile baurusuchid, also using CT-data. This amazing paleoart was done by Felipe Alves Elias.

New lab members!

29/02/2024

It's a shame there were no crocs available, but the new members are still a great acquisition. Thanks Ana Clara and Thayara for assembling them!

New office!

25/02/2024

Our lab got a new office (room #118), which will be used by students and postdocs. On February 5th, everybody got together to help cleaning and organizing the office. The result was great!

First ever "Paleo-Natal"!

25/02/2024

On December 2023, we had our first end-of-year celebration, the "Paleo-Natal" (paleo-Christmas). Many more will come! It was also the first time we met Thayara, our future postdoc, in person.

MacroPaleo Lab website launched!

25/02/2024

Nearly 8 months after the lab was created, the website is finally launched! Now we can use the full potential of this amazing logo, which was designed by Miranta Kouvari (check her website: https://www.mirantakouvari.com/). Here you will find lab news, information about team members, all of our publications and photos of cool fossils and fieldworks. I really hope to keep it up-to-date!