Peirópolis is a rural district located within the municipality of

Uberaba Uberaba () is a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Highlands at an elevation of 823 metres (2,700 ft) above sea level on the Uberaba River, and is situated 418 kilometres (260 mi) from the state c ...

, in the western region of

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

, southeastern

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The area is known for its paleontological discoveries dating back to the

Late Cretaceous period The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the more recent of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', ...

, specifically the

Maastrichtian stage The Maastrichtian ( ) is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) geologic timescale, the latest age (uppermost stage) of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or Upper Cretaceous Series, the Cretaceous Period or System, and of the Mesozoic E ...

. The area is characterized by the

Serra da Galga Formation The Serra da Galga Formation is a geological formation in Minas Gerais state of southeastern Brazil. Its strata date back to the Maastrichtian, and are part of the Bauru Group. It was originally considered a member of the Marília Formation. Di ...

, part of the Bauru Group, which contains fossil remains of crocodylomorphs, sauropods, and other extinct species, along with the Peirópolis and Serra da Galga paleontological sites.

History

Peirópolis was named after Frederico Peiró (1859–1911), who settled in the area in 1896 due to the local abundance of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. Soon after settling, Peiró established

lime kilns A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called ''quicklime'' (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is: Calcium carbonat ...

for producing

quicklime Calcium oxide (formula: Ca O), commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature. The broadly used term '' lime'' connotes calcium-containin ...

and storage warehouses for grain from the surrounding region, which was still referred to as "Paineiras" at the time. By 1889, the Mogiana Railway Company had extended its tracks to Uberaba, which led Peiró to establish a local railway station for dispatching products to the

state of São Paulo State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. After Peiró's death in 1911, the local railway station was renamed "Cambará." In 1924, it was further renamed "Peirópolis" at the request of local residents to honor Peiró’s legacy in the area. The station continued to operate until 1970, when the depletion of limestone and a fatal railway accident near the village that year led to disruptions in train services, resulting in its closure in 1971.

Paleontology

The first fossil discovered in the region was unearthed in 1945 during railway realignment work and identified as a femur from a dinosaur belonging to the

Titanosauridae Lithostrotia is a clade of derived titanosaur sauropods that lived during the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous. The group was defined by Upchurch ''et al.'' in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of ''Malawisaurus'' and ''Saltasaurus'' an ...

family. This find drew interest from the National Department of Mineral Production (DNPM), leading paleontologist

Llewellyn Ivor Price Llewellyn Ivor Price (October 9, 1905 – June 9, 1980) was one of the first Brazilian paleontologists. His work contributed not only to the development of Brazilian but also to global paleontology. He collected ''Staurikosaurus'' in 1936, th ...

to visit the site for further study. In 1946, Price discovered a 15 cm round fossilized

eggshell An eggshell is the outer covering of a hard-shelled egg (biology), egg and of some forms of eggs with soft outer coats. Worm eggs Nematode eggs present a two layered structure: an external vitellin layer made of chitin that confers mechanical ...

, later identified as belonging to a sauropod. Following this, Price conducted extensive excavations in Peirópolis, and the fossils recovered were sent to the DNPM’s headquarters in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. During the 1980s, supporters of scientific causes and local residents initiated a non-governmental project aimed at preserving Peirópolis as a dedicated research site for its geological and paleontological heritage. Following the initiative, the area was officially demarcated by the DNPM in 1988. In 1991, the Paleontological Research Center Llewellyn Ivor Price and the Dinosaur Museum of Peirópolis were established, with the museum occupying the building of the village's former railway station. In 2003, the

Brazilian federal government The Federal Government of Brazil (''Governo Federal'') is the national government of the Federative Republic of Brazil, a republic in South America divided into 26 states and a federal district. The Brazilian federal government is divided into th ...

allocated funding for the construction of the Rede Nacional de Paleontologia (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

: National Paleontology Network) headquarters in the district, aimed at preserving fossil sites and promoting local paleontology, but the project was canceled due to funding issues. In 2011, the remaining facilities were assumed by the Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro (Federal University of Triângulo Mineiro) and integrated into its academic unit, the Peirópolis Cultural and Scientific Complex (CCCP). In actuality, the Paleontological Research Center and the Dinosaur Museum serves as institutions for paleontological investigations in Brazil, which fosters collaborations among other national and international paleontological institutions, including publication of scholarly articles. The museum hosts exhibitions on local paleontology, catering to both scientific and educational audiences. It also houses a collection of over 1,500 fossils unearthed from the surrounding area. Discoveries in the area include titanosaurs '' Uberabatitan ribeiroi'', '' Trigonosaurus pricei'' and '' Baurutitan britoi'', crocodyliforms '' Uberabasuchus terrificus'', '' Peirosaurus tormini'', and '' Itasuchus jesuinoi'', podocnemids '' Peiropemys mezzalirai'' and '' Pricemys caiera'', the ground sloth '' Eremotherium laurillardi'', and the anura ''Uberabatrachus carvalhoi''.

References

Paleontological research institutes Paleontological sites {{MinasGerais-geo-stub Paleontological sites of Brazil Cretaceous paleontological sites Marília Formation Minas Gerais geography stubs Uberaba

History

Paleontology

See also

References