| Grant number: | 23/10680-0 |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral |
| Start date: | December 01, 2023 |
| End date: | November 30, 2025 |
| Field of knowledge: | Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences |
| Principal Investigator: | Fabio Rodrigues |
| Grantee: | Gustavo Marcondes Evangelista Martins Prado |
| Host Institution: | Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil |
Abstract One of the aspects of the world that has always fascinated humans is the great diversity of colours produced by organisms and caused by the presence of pigments. Despite the wide variety, melanin is the most common type in nature, and in animals, this compound is made up of eumelanin and pheomelanin. Melanins are formed and stored in melanosomes, which can assume a cylindrical or spherical shape, which gives a black to reddish color to tissues. Melanosomes are found in many parts of the animal's body, such as skin, internal organs, and hair, and in dinosaurs they occur mainly in feathers. The discovery of melanosomes in fossil feathers, and their morphological and chemical study, gave rise to a new area in palaeontology called 'Palaeocolour'. The study of these fossilized organelles allows paleontologists to reconstruct colour patterns in addition to obtaining information about the physiological and functional aspects of melanin in extinct animals. In Brazil, Palaeocolour studies are limited only to soft tissues and feathers of pterosaurs and dinosaurs from the Crato Formation (Cretaceous, Araripe Basin, NE). However, the number of samples remains low, preventing interpretations about palaeoecology and palaeobiology from being suggested. Therefore, it is necessary that new studies are conducted in a larger number of samples, in addition to experiments that simulate their preservation. Since the Palaeocolour is a new area in Palaeontology, this proposal is the first in the country to address this issue, which has been attracting broad interest from the public and researchers in academia. In addition, investigations on fossil melanin can provide information for other areas of science, such as Engineering and Medicine. Therefore, it is intended that the results of this proposal be widely disseminated in academic circles (i.e., scientific articles) in addition to being disseminated in mass media. Thus, it is expected that this proposal will fill a gap in knowledge about still obscure issues, such as, for example, the colour patterns and physiology of dinosaurs during periods of aridity, which, above all, marked the Cretaceous of Brazil. | |
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