A A FOSSIL EGG IN PIAUÍ

Abstract

The Cretaceous sediments of the Araripe Basin hold a rich fossil content from an important period in the history of Planet Earth, the separation of the supercontent Gondwana. Especially the Romualdo Formation, in this basin, stands out for having a rich and diversified paleobiota, with an excellent state of preservation. And it was in Piauí that the first amniotic egg from this deposit was collected, precisely in the city of Simões. Abreu et al. (2020) carried out a complete study of the description and identification of this specimen, which was assigned to a crocodile. Even more exceptional was the identification of the basic structures of an embryo within that egg. In this work, we present some important points of the research carried out on this fossil egg. Some considerations were also made about the geological and paleontological aspects of the Romualdo Formation, as well as a synthesis on the importance of fossil eggs in paleontological research and the occurrence of fossilized eggs attributed to crocodylomorphs in Brazil.