User:Sergio Kaminski/Tourism Paleorrota

Geopark Paleorrota is the main area of geotourism in Rio Grande do Sul and one of the most important in Brazil. With 83,000 km² inside 281,000 km² of the state, where many fossils of the Permian and Triassic period, with ages ranging between 210 and 290 million years ago, when there were only the continent Pangaea.

History of Wild Fauna and Flora: In the Triassic, after the Permian extinction, new species began to emerge occupying the niches of extinct species of the Permian. It was in this environment that the first dinosaurs appeared on the planet, as Staurikosaurus and early mammals such as Brasilitherium and Brasilodon. The Staurikosaurus is the first Brazilian dinosaur, with a quarter of Brazilian dinosaurs, were found in Paleorrota.

History of the Researchers: The first fossil was found in Santa Maria city in 1901 initiating a fascinating story with the paleontologists Friedrich von Huene, Rudolf Stahlecker, Atílio Munari, Llewellyn Ivor Price, Carlos de Paula Couto, Daniel Cargnin and many others who contributed to tell the story of the fauna of the more than 67 species already found in Paleorrota.

Geological History: The story is told through the rock formations Santa Maria, Caturrita, Sanga do Cabral, Rio do Rasto and Irati.

Paleontological Tourism: In the region Metropolitan Porto Alegre there are 5 museums to visit. In Paleorrota Geopark there are 7 museums, the Palaeobotanical Garden in Mata and the Paleontological Sites of Santa Maria to be visited. The BR-287, nicknamed Highway of Dinosaurs, crosses 17 of 41 municipalities of the geopark.