Occurrences of the fossil Dipnoiformes in Brazil and its stratigraphic and chronological distributions

Abstract

Recent records in new fossiliferous localities have widened the apparently limited paleogeographic distribution of Dipnoiformes in Brazil. The Dipnoiformes are registered from Devonian to Miocene/Pliocene in different Brazilian geologic basins. The Paleozoic of the Parana Basin, with five localities, is the most important interval, including the largest concentration of Dipnoiformes dental plates in a Permian bone-bed of the Corumbatai Formation. The most fossiliferous localities occur in the Parana Basin (Sao Paulo State), Sao Luis-Grajau Basin (Maranhao State) and the Acre Basin (Acre State). Fossils from these deposits show the greatest morphological variation and are most abundant, compared to material from other localities. It is presented here a check-list of the fossil dipnoan records in Brazil, providing stratigraphic, chronologic and correlation data of the localities.