Taxonomy and Taphonomy of Brachiopods from the Iapó and Vila Maria Formations, Siluro-Ordovician of the Paraná Basin, Brazil

• Grant number: 22/09053-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2022
• End date: February 29, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences
• Principal Investigator: Carolina Zabini
• Grantee: Ana Beatriz Furtado Carvalho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IG). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In different locations around the world, the Siluro-Ordovician boundary has been documented and can be identified in several geological formations by a characteristic fossil assemblage of Hirnantian age. On a global scale, brachiopods constitute one of the fossil groups of great biostratigraphic relevance for the determination of the Hirnantian. In the Paraná Basin, however, this interval is not well established and requires more detailed studies. The occurrence of different groups of brachiopods has already been reported for the Iapó (Neo-Ordovician) and Vila Maria (Eosilurian) formations in outcrops in the northwest of the Basin. The objective of this project is to investigate the brachiopod fauna of these formations through taxonomic and taphonomic analyses. The study of these organisms not only elucidates questions about the diversity of paleoinvertebrates of the Lower Paleozoic of the Paraná Basin, but may also provide evidence for the establishment of the Hirnantian in Brazilian strata, which allows the comparative analysis of these beds with those of hirnantian age in other regions of the world. Additionally, adjacent Gondwana basins will be tested for the possibility of faunal continuity. The project stages include taphonomic collection of material and direct analysis of individuals. The study of samples will be done through observation with a stereoscopic microscope and through chemical techniques such as scanning electron microscopy. The specimens will be photographed to create a database of the Siluro-Ordovician brachiopod fauna of the Paraná Basin. Any unpublished taxa will be included in paleontological databases through the publication of their diagnosis in relevant international journals. With this work, it is expected to contribute to the characterization of the brachiopod fauna of the global Hirnantian, as well as to value and project efforts of Brazilian paleontology.