Didactic and scientific potencial of fossils from the Taubaté Basin deposited at the Centro Universitário Teresa D’Ávila (UNIFATEA)

Abstract

The Taubate Basin represents a 23-million-year-old fossil deposit located in the Vale do Paraiba, SP. This essay aimed to screening and inventory the paleontological collection of UNIFATEA. which is used as teaching material in classes, university extension events and scientific research. The materials were collected in the years 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2019, at Extrativa Fazenda Santa Fé, during the technical visits made by the students of UNIFATEA. In the first step, the materials were screened per year of collection, and afossiliferous sediments were discarded. Each fossiliferous piece received a number a tipping number. In the second stage, the identification of fossil materials was performed. The collection contains 305 specimens that include fish fossils (38%; n=117), plants (35%; n=108), coprolites (8%; n=25), icnofossils (3%; n=9) among other unidentified parts (16%; n=50). This didactic/scientific collection represents one of the main collections of this Formation in Vale do Paraíba and will allow the development of new work in this area.