Management of the collection of the Centro de Pesquisas Paleontológicas L. I. Price of the Complexo Cultural e Cientifico de Peirópolis (UFTM), Uberaba, MG: current state and paleontological relevance

Abstract

The scientific collection of Centro de Pesquisas Paleontológicas L. I. Price (CPPLIP, CCCP/UFTM) includes a large number of fossil specimens, mostly discovered at the municipalities of Uberaba and Campina Verde (Triângulo Mineiro). Currently, 1500 specimens were cataloged and hundreds are still waiting to compose the repository. They represent fishes, anurans, crocodyliforms, turtles, sauropod and theropod dinosaurs, birds, mammals, mollusks, and fossil traces, including six holotype specimens, five of vertebrates and one of ichno-fossil. In 2010, the CPPLIP and the Museu dos Dinossauros were aggregated to the Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro (UFTM), which together with the defunct Rede Nacional de Paleontologia, comprise the Complexo Cultural e Cientifico de Peirópolis (CCCP). In 2012, the CCCP started a project of total restructuration of the paleontological collection in order to improve considerably its storage conditions, with financial support of the CAPES, FAPEMIG and MCTI/CNPq. This important curatorial phase is currently underway, with a large percentage already developed, and constitutes an important step for the valorization and preservation of paleontological heritage of Brazil, which has a huge scientific, educational and sociocultural potential.