Paleobiology of a unique vertebrate coprolites concentration from Rio do Rasto Formation (Middle/Upper Permian), Paraná Basin, Brazil

A large number of coprolites were collected in one outcrop in the lacustrine facies of Rio do Rasto Formation (Middle/Upper Permian) in Southern Brazil. The material ranges from 0.6 cm to 11 cm in length. Their mineralogy, inclusions and morphology were studied to infer their biological source and taphonomy. All of them contain fragments of bones and fish scales, as well as crystalline apatite, and therefore are assigned to carnivores. A wide variety of morphotypes is described, including the knots and the well-known spiral coprolites (heteropolar and amphipolar), as well as a new kind of heteropolar coprolite we called as “edge”, that has the whorls grouped in the very end of one pole. These data allow us to instead that a wide variety of vertebrates lived in the lakes of the Middle/Upper Permian in southern Brazil.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights► An unusual high concentration of coprolites was found in a single outcrop from the Permian of southern Brazil. ► Different morphotypes of spiral coprolites and a new type of coprolite. ► Edge Heteropolar and Knot coprolites are for the first time described.