New record of a Petrified Forest in Altos, Piauí: importance and strategies for geoconservation

Abstract

Here were present a new record of fossil plants from the early Permian Pedra de Fogo Formation of the Parnaíba Basin, northeastern Brazil. This fossiliferous area, here named São Benedito Paleobotanical Site in municipality of Altos, Piauí state, and it is characterized by a great number of large gymnosperm trunks, measuring up to 1,80 m in diameter, some of them being possibly preserved in life position. More than 70 fossil tree logs were cataloged, probably constituting the largest concentration of permineralized trunks recorded in the state, surpassing the well-known Poti River Fossil Forest, in Teresina. Also, some proposals for its preservation are presented, taking into consideration that the site currently has no legal bases for its protection. This new record of fossil plants evidences the great potential for palaeobotanical studies existing in the basin.