DINOSAUR FOOTPRINTS
Imagem gerada por IA, baseada em dados científicos.
Tangará Ecopark is much more than an ecological paradise — it is home to one of the most important paleontological records in Brazil. According to a scientific article published in 2025 in the Italian Journal of Geosciences, researchers led by renowned paleontologist Ismar de Souza Carvalho described the discovery of dinosaur footprints in the Mosquito Formation, located in Fortaleza dos Nogueiras (MA), precisely in the area where Tangará Ecopark now stands.
Study Highlights:
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The footprints belong to theropod dinosaurs — bipedal predators that inhabited the region around 150 million years ago, during the Early Jurassic.
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Five distinct morphological types were identified, indicating the presence of different species of carnivorous dinosaurs in the area.
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In total, at least 78 footprints have been cataloged, spread across seven distinct outcrops throughout the park.
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This is the most significant record of Jurassic footprints ever found in Brazil.
A meeting between science and nature
Tangará Ecopark not only preserves these ancient relics, but also offers the public a chance to experience prehistory amidst the living nature of the Maranhão Cerrado. The site's scientific importance attracts researchers from Brazil and around the world, establishing the park as a true sanctuary of Brazilian paleontology.
The footprints are alive
When visiting Tangará, you walk along trails that traverse time — and literally step on the very ground where dinosaurs left their marks millions of years ago. A unique connection between past and present, one that only a place like Tangará can offer.
Dinosaur footprints in the Parnaíba Basin, Brazil, have so far been restricted to the Corda Formation (Upper Jurassic) and the Itapecuru Formation (Lower Cretaceous). They are predominantly interpreted as belonging to theropods. In this study, fossil footprints are reported in sandstones of the Mosquito Formation (Lower Jurassic), in the municipality of Fortaleza dos Nogueiras, Maranhão, Northeastern Brazil. The footprints occur within a sedimentary succession interpreted as an aeolian-lacustrine environmental context (Macapá Member), representing the earliest deposits of the Mosquito Formation. The new ichnosite at Tangará Ecopark currently represents the most significant occurrence of dinosaur footprints from the Brazilian Jurassic, with a large number of tracks providing new insights into Brazil’s dinosaur record and new perspectives on their diversity and environmental distribution.