Tito Aureliano

Universidade Regional do Cariri · Departamento de Zoologia

This research documents for the first time the detailed histological description of severe bone inflammation and the exceptional preservation of soft-bodied parasitical microorganisms inside the vascular canals of a non-avian dinosaur. The results bring new insights into the fields of parasitology, pathology, and histology in the fossil record. A s...

This study reports the occurrence of pneumosteum (osteohistological structure related to an avian-like air sac system) in a nanoid (5.7-m-long) saltasaurid titanosaur from Upper Cretaceous Brazil. We corroborate the hypothesis of the presence of an air sac system in titanosaurians based upon vertebral features identified through external observatio...

The origin of the air sac system present in birds has been an enigma for decades. Skeletal pneumaticity related to an air sac system is present in both derived non-avian dinosaurs and pterosaurs. But the question remained open whether this was a shared trait present in the common avemetatarsalian ancestor. We analyzed three taxa from the Late Trias...

It can be arduous to discriminate between lamellar bone fibres, Sharpey's fibres (tendon insertions) and the pneumosteum (air sac diverticula interaction with the bone) during histological observations. We analysed thin sections of several avemetatarsalians from the Cretaceous of Brazil and used characters from optical mineralogy to differentiate t...

One of the most remarkable features in sauropod dinosaurs relates to their pneu-matized skeletons permeated by a bird-like air sac system. Many studies described the late evolution and diversification of this trait in mid to late Meso-zoic forms but few focused on the origin of the invasive respiratory diverticula in sauropodomorphs. Fortunately, i...

Museums featuring dinosaur fossils have always attracted the attention of the crowd. However, sustaining public interest in science becomes more challenging year after year, even for popular attractions, calling for changes in how exhibits appear in the face of new technologies. To enrich the user’s experience and enhance the exhibition’s attractiv...

Titanosaurian sauropods are known to exhibit remarkable body size disparity, with some taxa famed for nearing the zenith of terrestrial vertebrate body size. Here, we describe a new titanosaurian – Ibirania parva gen. et sp. nov. – from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian– Campanian) São José do Rio Preto Formation of Bauru Basin, in which represents o...

The Botucatu Formation (Paraná Basin) is an eolian deposit that represents an extensive paleoerg that existed in the south-central Gondwana during the Early Cretaceous. The fossil record of the unit is almost exclusively constituted of ichnofossils, including numerous tracks and burrows of vertebrates and invertebrates. The greatest trace fossil di...

The pterosaur fossil record in Portugal is scarce, comprising mainly isolated teeth and rare postcranial material. Here, we describe a well-preserved right proximal femur of a pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Kimmeridgian, Upper Jurassic Praia da Amoreira–Porto Novo Formation of Peniche, Portugal. It is noteworthy for its relatively large size, co...

Not every audience actively consumes formal science communication products such as documentaries, books, and social media channels. These are the most vulnerable people to misinformation and misleading disclosures of the Post-Truth Era. Entertainment is a well-known venue to discuss such themes with people not usually interested in science. Worried...

This poster shows the results of a science communication action executed between 2020 and early 2021 in the YouTube channel "Colecionadores de Ossos". The results that follow were presented at the SVP 2021 Annual Meeting.

Covid-19 pandemic brought up a new reality. People are staying longer at home, personal contact ceased or decreased and the exchange of significant social experiences was substantially reduced. Many count exclusively on the internet to connect with other people and several psychological disorders arouse from social isolation. In this project, we us...

The Permian lycopsid Lycopodiopsis derbyi Renault, 1890 (Lemoigne and Brown 1980) Faria et al. (2009) is an abundant plant that inhabited the margins of the Paraná Basin under semi-arid and sometimes hypersaline environmental conditions of late Permian. Here we study a remarkable and unprecedented assemblage, with stems attributed to Lycopodiopsis...

There is a necessity to systematically sample taxa to enlighten our knowledge on the presence of histological correlates of avian-like air sacs among dinosaurs. This work expands the studies on the occurrence of pneumosteum in sauropods to the Brazilian lithostrotian titanosaur 'Uberabatitan ribeiroi'. This confirms previous hypotheses on the inser...

The 'Colecionadores de Ossos' is the largest web of social media on geosciences independently created and maintained by actual professionals in the field. The data here released is result of several years of integrative work between a blog, Facebook page and YouTube channel. On contrary of what is affirmed by the media on the juvenile interest on d...

Spinosaurinae are known to have a strong relationship with aquatic environments, involving several anatomical adaptations. Nonetheless, this group of theropods remains enigmatic, due to the relative incompleteness of its fossil record. A large partial tibia from the Aptian-Albian Romualdo Formation, Northeast Brazil, is herein described through ana...

Spinosaurinae are known to have a strong relationship with aquatic environments, involving several anatomical adaptations. Nonetheless, this group of theropods remains enigmatic, due to the relative incompleteness of its fossil record. A large partial tibia from the Aptian-Albian Romualdo Formation, Northeast Brazil, is herein described through ana...

Here we describe a new record of a sauropod dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous (Hauterivian-Barremian) Rio Piranhas Formation, Sousa Basin, NE Brazil. Dinosaur fossil bones from this deposit were unknown until now. Thus, the discovery of a sauropod fibula from this locality is highly significant. Our discovery represents an indeterminate titanosaur...

Purussaurus brasiliensis thrived in the northwestern portion of South America during the Late Miocene. Although substantial material has been recovered since its early discovery, this fossil crocodilian can still be considered as very poorly understood. In the present work, we used regression equations based on modern crocodilians to present novel...

Purussaurus brasiliensis thrived in the northwestern portion of South America during the Late Miocene. Although substantial material has been recovered since its early discovery, this fossil crocodilian can still be considered as very poorly understood. In the present work, we used regression equations based on modern crocodilians to present novel...

This research describes a pterosaur remain from the Aptian/Albian Romualdo Formation collected on a new potential site at the southernmost portion of the Araripe Basin. The specimen (DGEO-CTG-UFPE 7516) consists of three-dimensionally preserved ulna that shows morphological affinities with the Pteranodontoidea and is tentatively referred to Anhangu...

Few formal studies have been done about how paleontology is perceived by the public. Perhaps the reason is that very few professional paleontologists have concerned themselves with public opinion. Generally, they are absorbed by their research topic or more concerned with grant proposals. However, public support is necessary for reinforcing and dev...

Dinosaur fossils in the Mato Grosso state, Brazil, are known since the second half of the XIX century. The first material described was recovered from the Morro do Cambambe region, northeast of Cuiabá. The referred material consists on incomplete postcranial remains, possibly belonging to Sauropoda, whose current repository is unknown. After that,...

O turismo paleontológico pode oferecer uma oportunidade sustentável de geração de renda para comunidades regionais. O aproveitamento de jazigos fossilíferos como atrações turísticas tem o potencial de mover a economia local e promover mudanças sócio-econômicas e culturais. Além disso, pode permitir a preservação do patrimônio histórico e ambiental...

The Paleontology teams at the Universidade Federal do Acre (UFAC) and the Universidade de Brasília (UnB) worked together in order to increase macro and micropaleontological knowledge of the late Miocene rocks exposed at Niterói (10˚08’30”S-67˚48’46,3”W), on the right margin of the Acre river about 25km from the city of Rio Branco. The wide range of...