Análise paleofaunística do sítio paleontológico William’s Quarry em Presidente Prudente, SP

Abstract

The William’s Quarry paleontological site includes rocks of the Adamantina Formation, a lithostratigraphic unit that is part of the Bauru Group, Paraná Basin, composed mainly of fine and very fine sandstones, rich in sedimentary structures. Based on the fossil record, the William's Quarry site has an abundant paleofauna, composed mainly of vertebrates, especially non-avian theropods (represented by isolated teeth) and birds, crocodylomorphs, lizards, snakes, turtles, anurans, fish, and ichnofossils, as bioturbations, coprolites and clutches of eggs. The study of the lithology of the site and some of these fossils indicate a fluvial-lacustrine environment with a less severe climate in terms of aridity, with meandering rivers, which favored the existence of a rich fauna of animals and their consequent preservation in rocky deposits. It is possible to assume that over the decades, with the development of the city of Presidente Prudente and nearby municipalities, many fossils have emerged, but they ended up being lost due to lack of information and ignorance when they were discovered. The discovery of the site in September 2004 in Presidente Prudente, with a significant concentration of small fossils of Enantiornithes birds, and its continuous record over the following years, allowed the site to be listed as a Paleontological Site by the city hall in 2020. These findings expand the possibility of a paleoenvironmental study of the site and allow a more realistic paleofaunistic analysis, as they present an increasingly broad and rich diversity of taxa, which highlights the need for further studies on the location and the importance of the excavations carried out.