O Unicamp's Institute of Geosciences (IG) has just made its fossil collection available on the internet. The project, coordinated by professor Fresia Soledade Ricardi Torres Branco, from the Department of Geology and Natural Resources, aims to publicize the unit's collection, which currently has around 1,5 specimens. The tool will enable public access to the collection, previously restricted to academia. During the site's implementation phase, after reviewing the data, the information began to form a database together with photos of the fossils, which allowed the organization of a file for each specimen. They can be accessed at www.ige.unicamp.br, through the links “Special Projects” and “PaleoMundo”. The project was financed by Fapesp.

Photos fossils come accompanied of chips

According to Fresia, the collection contains specimens from several American countries and several Brazilian states. These were divided into nine didactic collections, classified as Vertebrates, Invertebrates, Ichnofossils, Stromatolites, Miscellaneous and Comparison, etc. It also has seven other scientific collections, which include fossils used in the Department's research. The collection began to be structured by the researcher in 1999 and, since then, has received numerous contributions from teachers, students, researchers, Institute employees and even people interested in collaborating.

The need to organize a fossil collection occurred to Fresia in 1998, when she began teaching the Elements of Paleontology subject to undergraduate Biology students and the newly created Geology course. “At the time, we had very little to show. Then the idea of ​​putting together a collection arose. I requested donations, made collections and many copies reached me spontaneously.” According to the professor, Brazil is a country very rich in fossils. “We have specimens of dinosaurs, plants and fish, of all sizes. Our initial concern was to meet teaching needs, organizing a very diverse collection, as I could not just focus on showing specimens of plants, the area in which I work”.

The idea for the site came later, when the teacher discovered that the fossils known in Brazil are generally those from the Northern Hemisphere, mainly from the USA and Europe. “It’s as if we don’t have them here. The books, generally translated, are illustrated with fossils from these regions and little or nothing from South America. I then decided that it would be good to publicize what exists here. There are foreign websites on the internet, but generally in English. We are constantly bombarded by other cultures, which make us think that what is ours is not worth it. We need to value what comes from here, so that others do the same.”

The teacher understands that the work must be carried out throughout the day, as the site, continually expanded, has been achieving results in light of the public's great interest in fossils: “I noticed this on the occasion of the UPA [Open Doors University], when it became clear the fascination that fossils exert on visitors, most of whom are high school students. They are attracted to things that no longer exist, but of which there is a record”, says Fresia.

Luis Gustavo Dal Bo da Costa and Edgar T. Caíres also participated in the implementation of the project, as scientific initiation students, and the updating and expansion of the website has the collaboration of Wellintong G dos Santos, who receives a grant through SAE (Service of Student Services).

Deciphering the roots of life

The term paleontology was coined from the Greek roots palalos (ancient), ontos (being) and logos (study) and the word fossil originated from the Latin term fossilis (extracted from the earth, unearthed). Paleontology studies the history of life on planet Earth since its first record, 3,5 billion years ago. It studies how living beings emerged, what their interrelationships were like, how they evolved and how fossils emerged. It points to great evidence about past climate changes, allows us to understand how the Earth got to what it is today and what could happen in the future.

According to Fresia, the principles and methods of Paleontology are based on Biology and Geology. In Biology, the paleontologist seeks support to study fossils, as they result from ancient living organisms. In the opposite direction, Paleontology provides biologists with a dimension of the time in which today's large ecosystems were established. In Geology, fossils are used as a tool for dating and ordering sedimentary sequences. It also provides support for the interpretation of ancient sedimentation environments and for the identification of changes that occurred on the planet's surface over geological time.