RESEARCH PROJECTS

Histological description of paleopathologies

By looking into the past and studying how ancient organisms (eg. dinosaurs) reacted to diseases, we provide new histological data to medicine.

Figure: Histological/petrographic thin section illustrating osseous alteration in a titanosaur. Aureliano et al. (2021).


Evolution of the Respiratory System in dinosaurs and other archosaurs

Modern birds are some of the organisms with the best respiratory performance. Our objective with this research front is to track the evolution of the air sacs system back to the non-avian dinosaurs for a better understanding of the histological traces of these pulmonary organs in the fossilized skeleton.

Figure: Histological/petrographic thin section illustrating bone tissue from the vertebra internal chambers of the titanosaur Uberabatitan ribeiroi.


Metabolism, ontogeny, and the evolution of gigantism in dinosaurs

Dinosaurs are a very diverse group of organisms with an elevated metabolic rate. This implies also in fast growth rates when compared to other archosaurs. In this research front, we investigate the histology of diverse groups in order to understand the evolution of gigantism.

Figure: Histological/petrographic thin section of the titanosaur Arrudatitan maximus.


Dinosaur faunal diversity during the transitional rupture between South America and Africa

The separation of these two big continents resulted in a noticeable dinosaur faunal substitution in Brazil, during the Cretaceous Period. In this research front, we apply all available technologies to describe fossilized dinosaur traces from the Northeastern Outback. We aim to bring novel paleoecological details in a big volume of data.

Figure: Tridimensional model of a large size theropod footprint. Under description.