Por Terras do Jurássico - Documentário de Paleontologia /Through Jurassic Lands - Paleontology Documentary
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00:01Life on Earth began 3.8 billion years ago,
00:07almost a thousand million years after the formation of our planet.
00:12Since then, the remains of living beings or the marks of their activity
00:19have been preserved in the rocks.
00:22These precious remains are called fossils
00:26and are studied by paleontology.
00:30But paleontology is much more than that.
00:34Without it, how could we know what the Earth and its inhabitants were like
00:39during the geological past?
00:42Embark with me on this journey through Jurassic lands.
00:56JURASSIC WORLD
01:01THE UNIVERSE
01:05JURASSIC WORLD
01:08IS A STORY OF THREE STORIES
01:11JURASSIC WORLD
01:15JURASSIC WORLD
01:20PART 2
01:23It wasn't until many years after the word dinosaur was invented that it was realized that there were these great animals,
01:30that the first fossil of a dinosaur from Portugal was found, the first tooth of a dinosaur from Portugal,
01:36and it was recognized as a dinosaur tooth.
01:44When we are discovering a find, we are really taking what it takes, we are discovering.
01:52And by doing so, we are providing light for the first time.
01:57Those bones never saw the light of day, and we are the first to provide light to those objects,
02:05and we are the first humans to look at those objects.
02:08This is spectacular.
02:09To me, being able to study the paleontological heritage of my country is obviously a source of pride,
02:26and being able to make that contribution, especially here in Portugal,
02:29I think we have a very rich heritage, well explored, well studied, well disclosed and well protected,
02:38which can also be of tremendous value to the country.
02:47We have this incredible heritage, and the heritage is here and the science is done,
02:52but this is done in connection with the community.
02:55The community lives the dinosaurs, is proud of the dinosaurs.
03:09JURASSIC WORLD
03:14Pluterras do Jurássico is a work of people for people,
03:20which shows the arduous and endless work of paleontologists,
03:24the scientists who dedicate their lives to the search for fossils.
03:28This is a territory with a centenary tradition in the study of fossils,
03:34and its inhabitants can literally live on top of a nest of dinosaurs.
03:40Based on its paleontological heritage,
03:44it is intended to awaken the consciousness of the more than 213,000 inhabitants of this territory
03:50for its importance,
03:52so that they benefit from a sustainable development strategy
03:57based on endogenous resources as a natural heritage.
04:02This is one of the main objectives of this project of the Aspiring Geoparque Oeste,
04:08to instill in the population a feeling of pride in its region,
04:12strengthening its identification with the territory.
04:16JURASSIC WORLD
04:31The steps of paleontology,
04:34until it is published in a scientific article that is available to everyone,
04:38start with prospecting.
04:40We go to the field without knowing where the bones are,
04:43we just look at the ground looking for a small clue.
04:47Often we don't find anything,
04:49but almost always we find something,
04:51and sometimes it is a whole bone or part of a skeleton.
04:57This is excavated, usually an excavation takes a week,
05:02two, three, four weeks, a month, two months,
05:05not much more than that.
05:07They come to the laboratory, all those bones,
05:10still wrapped in plaster or rock,
05:13which are prepared in the laboratory for months or years.
05:17A good part of the work takes place there.
05:20Finally, when the bones are all prepared and available for study,
05:24they have to be interpreted.
05:26We have to understand what bone it is, what dinosaur,
05:29what that dinosaur means in that place,
05:32in that geological age or with that anatomy.
05:36We have to write everything we observe,
05:39our interpretations, our scientific conclusions,
05:42and finally see the scientific publication.
05:44These are essential steps for the study of paleontology.
05:49Most of this work is done here at the Lourinhã Museum
05:54and at Nova University,
05:56where we have the only paleontology master's degree in the country,
06:02which is awarded at Nova University in association with Évora University.
06:07But a lot of fieldwork and laboratory practice is done here at Lourinhã.
06:14LOURINHÃ
06:27My name is Bruno Camilo.
06:29I am a paleontologist at the Natural History Society,
06:32at the Paleobiology and Paleoecology Research Center.
06:35We are here in a area of Cambelas,
06:38where we have been working for a few days
06:41and where we will stay for a month in this beautiful landscape,
06:44excavating about five mangroves,
06:47where we found remains of dinosaurs,
06:50crocodylomorphs, turtles, among other groups of animals,
06:54including some peninus dinosaurs,
06:56which is a huge novelty,
06:58which is the result of the first phase of fieldwork,
07:01which is exactly the prospecting.
07:03After that, we identify the locations and start the intervention.
07:07Not all are easily accessible like this one,
07:10others are much more difficult on the banks.
07:13We usually have a team of 10 to 15 people per year in excavations,
07:18during the month,
07:20but we have students from several foreign universities and from Portugal.
07:24We have participants from both Holland and Turkey,
07:27and they will also come from France, Poland and Italy.
07:41LORINHÃ
07:49My name is Carla Tomás, I am a geologist,
07:52and my specialty is the preparation and conservation of vertebrate fossils.
07:55We are at the Isabel Matheus Preparation and Conservation Laboratory
07:59at the LORINHÃ Museum.
08:01During the Upper Jurassic, and speaking of LORINHÃ in particular,
08:04during the Upper Jurassic,
08:06the ideal conditions for the preservation of animals
08:09that died here were buried quickly,
08:12they would stop at some depth,
08:14these skeletons inside the sediments
08:16would stop at some depth relatively quickly,
08:19on a geological time scale, of course.
08:22Therefore, the entire geological context
08:25favored the preservation of these skeletons.
08:28Later, all these sediments with the dinosaurs preserved there
08:32returned to the surface,
08:34and that is why they are here accessible to us.
08:37The fact that we have such a large concentration in such a small country
08:41is also something spectacular,
08:44because if we compare it with other formations of the same age
08:48and that were formed in the same conditions
08:50and that occupy a huge territory,
08:52as is the case, for example, of the Morrison Formation,
08:55our small LORINHÃ Formation is very rich,
08:59and it is very difficult for a paleontologist to go to the field
09:03and not find even a small skeleton.
09:07It is very difficult.
09:09We go there, we take a look,
09:11it is a little bit sweet,
09:13the concentration is huge here.
09:28It is important to know how to read the geological layers,
09:31where there is a greater probability of finding these types,
09:35different types of fossils,
09:37because they can occur in sediments,
09:40sometimes similar to others.
09:42It is necessary to have the notion, many times,
09:45of being literally with the nose attached to the sediment.
09:48And sometimes it is a small bone that tells us,
09:51it may even belong to a giant dinosaur,
09:53but it is a small bone that tells us that there is something there.
09:56We have to have this ability,
09:58and also this patience and resilience,
10:01and know how to locate exactly where they are in the layer,
10:04georeferential, it is extremely important,
10:06so that when we return we know,
10:08we go directly to that place,
10:10and in many cases,
10:12and this is extremely important,
10:14to know how to have a preventive conservation action,
10:18in case we identify something.
10:21The fossil, after being excavated in the field,
10:24is wrapped in a plaster jacket,
10:27a kind of plaster case,
10:29which protects it during transport,
10:31because the fossils are very fragile,
10:33and the vertebrate fossils are particularly fragile,
10:36so they are wrapped in this case,
10:38and the fossils are transported to this laboratory.
10:41Arriving here, we have to open the case
10:44and continue the fossil excavation,
10:46removing the rock,
10:48without breaking it,
10:50so that it is preserved as much as possible.
11:04Paleontologists are scientists
11:06with a very special taste for geology and biology,
11:10for the sciences of nature,
11:12for the sciences of life,
11:14for the sciences of nature in general,
11:17because to investigate the life of the past
11:20and study its fossils,
11:22it is necessary to know the geology of the places
11:25where they occurred,
11:27and the biology of the organisms
11:29that gave them their origin.
11:31I believe that it was not only me
11:33who was very eager to look for fossils,
11:36and collaborate with the excavation teams,
11:39but where to start?
11:41Excavating dinosaurs,
11:43or removing this paleontological heritage
11:45from its environment,
11:47requires some methodologies.
11:49We understand that there are people
11:51who are very enthusiastic,
11:53and we, as scientists,
11:55also have to know how to welcome these people.
11:57Every year, we develop a volunteer program,
12:00which allows people, not only in the laboratory,
12:02to have a first contact with this paleontological heritage
12:05in the laboratory, through preparation,
12:07always accompanied by colleagues
12:09who actually know a lot about the matter.
12:12As for the excavation,
12:14we can use heavy materials,
12:16such as pickaxes and shovels,
12:18to get to the geological level that we need,
12:20to the layer where we have the dinosaur bones,
12:22and then, delicately,
12:24with some basic tools,
12:26which we can find in any hardware store,
12:29we start to excavate,
12:31but with a certain methodology,
12:33for example, always excavating in plan,
12:35never excavating from the front.
12:37Therefore, we want to design,
12:39we want to photograph,
12:41we want to document what we find.
12:43Sometimes it also happens
12:45that we have to resort to mechanical means,
12:47such as re-excavators,
12:49or even pneumatic hammers.
12:51This implies bringing some heavier equipment
12:53with us,
12:55so that we can, with greater speed,
12:57remove large packages of sediment,
12:59which are quite thick,
13:01otherwise we would take a lot of time
13:03to remove them,
13:05because we don't have much time
13:07to excavate the specimen
13:09that we want to see removed from the rock.
13:35I am Otávio Mateus,
13:37professor of paleontology
13:39at the University of Lisbon,
13:41and paleontologist at the Lourinhã Museum.
13:43And we are, precisely,
13:45in the paleontology room
13:47of the Lourinhã Museum.
13:49This museum is a museum that is very dear to me,
13:51for several reasons.
13:53Since I remember,
13:55I used to walk along the corridors of this museum,
13:57because my parents were the founders
13:59of this place.
14:01And I, since very early on,
14:03have been looking for dinosaurs.
14:05And my first great discovery
14:07is a carnivorous dinosaur tooth,
14:09a Torvosaurus,
14:11a very large tooth.
14:13I was nine years old.
14:15I was very lucky
14:17to have been born
14:19in a dinosaur nest.
14:21My parents were the founders
14:23of the museum,
14:25and to be here in Lourinhã
14:27and to have discovered dinosaurs very early on.
14:29And I became a professional paleontologist.
14:31And this is an opportunity
14:33that the Western region offers
14:35better than anywhere else in the world.
14:37In the studies,
14:39in the access to fossils,
14:41in the incorporation of the youngest
14:43in the areas of paleontology,
14:45here you can do better
14:47than anywhere else, in fact.
15:01Paleontologist
15:03Paleontologist
15:05Paleontologist
15:07Paleontologist
15:09Within paleontology, there are several professionals.
15:11Paleontologists are the ones
15:13who study fossils
15:15and who extract all the information
15:17from the fossils.
15:19But for them to do this work,
15:21the fossils need to be excavated
15:23and stable, so that it is possible
15:25to handle them safely.
15:27And those who do this work
15:29of stabilization and excavation
15:31are us. And this work
15:33usually takes several years
15:35until the paleontologists can then do
15:37their work and extract all that information.
15:39The fossils come from the field,
15:41they arrive here, the jackets are opened,
15:43they are excavated,
15:45they are stabilized, consolidating
15:47the fossils with our glue.
15:49The fragments that are broken
15:51are glued together.
15:53We try to understand
15:55where things fit.
15:57Sometimes we even
15:59fill in the gaps,
16:01we make the supports,
16:03because most of these fossils,
16:05and we mainly work with dinosaurs,
16:07are extremely heavy
16:09and collapse on their own weight,
16:11so we make the supports,
16:13so that the paleontologists can then
16:15handle the specimens, photograph them, study them.
16:17Today we already have
16:19technology at our disposal
16:21that allows us to extract
16:23information, putting the fossils
16:25at little or no risk.
16:27For example,
16:29there are fossils that we prepare here
16:31and that we don't prepare
16:33too much because we already have access
16:35to synchrotrons,
16:37to X-rays
16:39with particularly dense
16:41beams that allow us
16:43to study structures that we used to have
16:45no access to, and even
16:47to study, for example, the interior
16:49of an egg without having to open it.
16:51And that makes our specimen
16:53more stable
16:55and we don't run the risk of breaking it
16:57when technology gives us
16:59this support, and imagine
17:01if there was an embryo inside,
17:03you can print a replica of the embryo
17:05without having to damage
17:07the bone.
17:24We are very happy
17:26to have Dinoparque in Portugal.
17:28A thematic park
17:30dedicated to the history
17:32of dinosaurs.
17:34It has more than 180 models,
17:37specimens of dinosaurs
17:39and other prehistoric animals
17:41on a real scale.
17:46I'm Simão Mateus,
17:48I'm the scientific director of Dinoparque
17:50and one of the paleontologists who works here at Dinoparque.
17:52Dinoparque is
17:54an entertainment company,
17:56let's say, it's a thematic park
17:58dedicated to paleontology,
18:00but much more than a thematic park,
18:02it also has a laboratory
18:04where we support
18:06the science and research
18:08of paleontology that is done
18:10here in Portugal, specifically
18:12in the Lourinhã area.
18:14Most of the fossils we work
18:16here at Dinoparque
18:18are fossils from the Lourinhã Museum.
18:20Here we do
18:22a more mechanical preparation,
18:24with micro hammers,
18:26so we have these windows
18:28where people can have a glimpse,
18:30a window to the interior
18:32of science, to understand
18:34the work it takes,
18:36the time it takes,
18:38what it costs to do.
18:40Sometimes these people end up
18:42invited to enter, fall in love with paleontology
18:44and end up being volunteers
18:46with a high probability
18:48of becoming a paleontologist.
18:50And this is very good,
18:52because in fact
18:54we bring paleontology
18:56closer to the science
18:58that people see.
19:18We have
19:20about twenty
19:22unique species,
19:24most of them unique,
19:26of dinosaurs in a territory
19:28that goes from Caldas da Rainha
19:30to the beginning
19:32of the Council of Mafra,
19:34a relatively short territory,
19:36about twenty species of dinosaurs,
19:38of very similar ages to those
19:40that appear in Morrison's formation in the United States,
19:42but these go from Canada
19:44to New Mexico,
19:46which is much bigger.
19:48So, for our proportion,
19:50we are one of the territories
19:52with more dinosaurs per square kilometer.
19:54And this is a great privilege.
19:56But not only the quantity,
19:58but also the diversity
20:00and quality of the findings.
20:02Bones,
20:04eggs,
20:06footprints,
20:08skin prints,
20:10coprolites are fossilized excrements,
20:12gastrolites are rocks
20:14that they swallow
20:16to crush the food inside the stomach.
20:18Teeth,
20:20scales, claws,
20:22there is a world
20:24of absolutely spectacular
20:26findings that can
20:28tell us a lot about
20:30the paleontology of dinosaurs.
20:32And here we have discovered
20:34many species that are unique.
20:36This is because, at the time of the
20:38Upper Jurassic, about 152 million years ago,
20:40the Iberian Peninsula
20:42was not even a peninsula,
20:44it was an island.
20:46And these islands tend to form
20:48more endemisms, more unique species,
20:50different from any other
20:52that existed in the world.
20:54And so, we are going to discover a series of
20:56new species for science
20:58that we named. I was lucky to name
21:00many of them,
21:02and many that are here in the Lourinhã Museum.
21:04For example,
21:06the Lourinhianosaurus antonesi,
21:08a dinosaur or carnivore of 4.5 meters,
21:10a ferocious predator.
21:12It was not one of the biggest,
21:14the biggest would be
21:16the Thorvossaurus,
21:18but this one has the particularity
21:20that we know
21:22its babies and embryos
21:24in the eggs
21:26and nests,
21:28several nests of this species.
21:30There are not many places
21:32where you can say
21:34that it has the adults
21:36and has the eggs
21:38and the embryos,
21:40the babies, before they are born.
21:54The nests are one of the rarest fossils
21:56in the world.
21:58Not only because the nest,
22:00if everything goes well during the dinosaur's lifetime,
22:02serves to be destroyed.
22:04Therefore, only when things
22:06go well for the dinosaurs,
22:08things go well for us.
22:10This means that the nests
22:12are objects of paleontology
22:14very, very rare.
22:16The older, the rarer,
22:18then the very organization of the nest
22:20is very important.
22:22In fact, here in Lourinhã there are many.
22:24We have most of the nests of Europe
22:26here in this area.
22:28This makes Lourinhã,
22:30in this specific context,
22:32I'm talking about Lourinhã as the epicenter
22:34of paleontology,
22:36an extremely valid
22:38and extremely important territory
22:40for world paleontology.
22:42The specialty or development
22:44that paleontologists have,
22:46both here in Dinopar
22:48and in the Lourinhã Museum,
22:50has been sought by museums
22:52from other parts of the world
22:54to make the preparation,
22:56both in the Lourinhã Museum
22:58and here.
23:00We have several fossils
23:02and the materials of large
23:04myosinic mammals from Ribatejo
23:06and other museums.
23:08We have several projects
23:10that we receive to prepare
23:12and obviously all this material
23:14is then returned to the institutions of origin.
23:16Paleontology in the territory
23:18of the West Aspiring Geopark
23:20is much more than just fossils.
23:22It is also the knowledge,
23:24the know-how, the laboratories.
23:26This makes us prepare fossils
23:28here and makes
23:30the exchange of other universities,
23:32other teams,
23:34to send them here.
23:36And they only send the material here
23:38thanks to the recognition
23:40that the different laboratories
23:42and museums in the territory
23:44of the West Aspiring Geopark have.
23:46We mainly prepare fossils
23:48from our collection,
23:50from the Lourinhã Council,
23:52from the Lourinhã Formation,
23:54but we are also involved
23:56in several national and international
23:58projects where fossils
24:00from other regions,
24:02from other ages,
24:04from other types of animals
24:06come here.
24:08They are usually projects
24:10in which our paleontologists
24:12are involved
24:14and the fossils end up
24:16coming here to be prepared
24:18and stabilized.
24:20And we are always available
24:22to receive people
24:24wherever they come from.
24:26It is a mission, in a way,
24:28not only of the preservation
24:30of the fossils,
24:32but also of the dissemination
24:34and of sending new people
24:36to this area
24:38that still fascinates
24:40many people.
24:48All the territory
24:50of the West Aspiring Geopark
24:52is fertile
24:54in what concerns the fossils,
24:56but there are still many secrets
24:58to be revealed.
25:00We met a paleontology student
25:02who spends many days
25:04in the Arribas to analyze
25:06dinosaur footprints.
25:08It's amazing to be able
25:10to put our hands on
25:12the footprints of this
25:14Jurassic giant.
25:16I'm Inês.
25:18I'm a student of the Master's
25:20in Paleontology
25:22which is in association
25:24with the University of Évora
25:26and the University of Nova de Lisboa.
25:28We are in one of the
25:30dinosaur footprints
25:32in Portugal,
25:34which is on the outskirts
25:36of Porto.
25:38It's one of the footprints
25:40I'm studying for my Master's thesis
25:42on dinosaur footprints
25:44here in Portugal.
25:46Since I was very young,
25:48I became interested
25:50in this world,
25:52not only dinosaurs,
25:54but geology and paleontology in general.
25:56When the time came
25:58to continue my studies,
26:00I decided
26:02to enroll
26:04in the Master's in Paleontology
26:06and study, in this case,
26:08dinosaur footprints.
26:10I was already interested
26:12in studying dinosaurs
26:14and footprints.
26:16I found it very interesting
26:18and here I am today.
26:22In this area we have
26:24theropod dinosaur footprints,
26:26which are carnivorous dinosaurs,
26:30and we also have
26:32sauropods footprints,
26:34which are long-necked dinosaurs
26:36and well-known herbivores.
26:38With the analyses I do
26:40already at home,
26:42I can determine,
26:44for example, the estimates
26:46of the animal
26:48that made the footprint,
26:50I can determine the speed,
26:52I can make a
26:54locomotion characterization,
26:56for example, if it was walking,
26:58if it was running,
27:00if it was running,
27:02and therefore, through
27:04the analysis of the rocks
27:06where the footprints are inserted,
27:08we can make
27:10determinations of the environment
27:12where the dinosaurs walked,
27:14which is also an important data.
27:20My name is Miguel Castro,
27:22I studied marine biology and decided
27:24to transform my hobbies into my profession.
27:26So I created Intertidal.
27:28Intertidal is a tourism animation company
27:30that explores the niche of science
27:32in tourism animation.
27:34There are many companies that do the sports part,
27:36the cultural part,
27:38I try to approach the scientific part
27:40of tourism animation.
27:42My specialty is the Adobe Lake,
27:44but there was also the need
27:46to create pedestrian routes
27:48here in the Salir do Porto area,
27:50and then,
27:52after studying what had the potential
27:54to be shown, keeping the component
27:56of science that is always present
27:58in the activities of Intertidal,
28:00we decided to start doing guided tours
28:02here on the tracks of dinosaurs
28:04on the banks of Salir do Porto.
28:06Recently, when it was necessary
28:08to create routes, I remembered
28:10the tracks of dinosaurs.
28:12I started researching,
28:14I found some papers,
28:16some scientific publications
28:18about the tracks of dinosaurs
28:20here in this area,
28:22to be able to build a guided tour
28:24with a touch of science,
28:26without being something for scientists.
28:28It is very common for me to walk around here,
28:30take a backpack on my back,
28:32spend a day here on the banks,
28:34and we discover things
28:36that are not yet discovered
28:38because paleontologists
28:40will not have so much time
28:42available to walk around here
28:44as we do,
28:46and because some of them
28:48are covered with sediments,
28:50the sediment uncovers and new things
28:52emerge that were not known.
28:54Even a small alloy of soils
28:56uncovers things that were covered.
28:58In that sense, I try to gather
29:00the information I find,
29:02and I want to share it
29:04with scientists, with paleontologists,
29:06to study and enrich
29:08the knowledge about this area.
29:10I am very happy
29:12for the recognition of my competence
29:14and for the future potentialities
29:16of the business that is going to grow,
29:18a business that is obviously
29:20good from my perspective,
29:22that Geoparque do Oeste will bring
29:24to the region and to tour operators
29:26like me.
29:28Geoparque do Oeste
29:34In this whole area
29:36we have many examples
29:38of dinosaur footprints.
29:40It is a very vast area,
29:42but we have here one of the exemplars.
29:44Here you can see
29:46the
29:48prints of the
29:50three fingers
29:52and the line of the heel.
29:54And this footprint is
29:56attributed to a theropod dinosaur.
29:58This footprint
30:00has a high depth,
30:02which seems to indicate
30:04that at the time the animal
30:06passed through here,
30:08there was a mud
30:10with a high amount of water.
30:12This footprint
30:14also has some
30:16shell fossils along
30:18its contours,
30:20which also seem to indicate
30:22the presence of a mud
30:24with a high amount of water
30:26in this region
30:28at the time the animals
30:30passed through here.
30:38And we arrived at another
30:40location in the territory,
30:42near the Serra de Montjunto,
30:44the depository field
30:46of many fossils.
30:48In this museum we clearly see
30:50the evolution of the territory
30:52from older times
30:54to the present,
30:56in a path that spans paleontology,
30:58archaeology,
31:00history and cultural heritage.
31:04My name is Rui Henriques.
31:06I have a degree in Geography.
31:08I am a geographer
31:10in the Department of
31:12Territory Management.
31:14Montjunto is a
31:16calcareous mountain range,
31:18a sedimentary rock
31:20that was formed
31:22under water
31:24in a marine environment
31:26and that,
31:28in Montjunto,
31:30is very rare to find
31:32marine fossils.
31:42Parts of the dinosaurs
31:44were found almost always
31:46in the field of agricultural work
31:48and people identified
31:50them as being
31:52a part of a dinosaur
31:54and that later
31:56gave us the knowledge they had.
31:58It is always an opportunity
32:00in a council like ours,
32:02a rural council
32:04of low density,
32:06a little interiorized,
32:08to see
32:10this interest
32:12in geology,
32:14in paleontology
32:16and to bring people here
32:18who really discover
32:20our territory
32:22and discover the richness
32:24that our territory has
32:26in this matter.
32:28This work we are doing
32:30in the West Geopark
32:32will really
32:34boost not only tourism
32:36but also science.
32:38It will help
32:40a more sustainable development,
32:42a tourism
32:44more suitable
32:46to the territory,
32:48not a mass tourism
32:50but a quality tourism
32:52and information tourism
32:54so that when people come
32:56to our territory,
32:58they feel they bring
33:00knowledge to life
33:02and it is in this area
33:04that the Museu do Cadaval
33:06and the municipality of Cadaval
33:08are willing to integrate
33:10this very important project
33:12in this area.
33:18The site of Ponta do Trovão,
33:20located on the northern facade
33:22of the Peniche Peninsula,
33:24is unanimously considered
33:26by the international
33:28scientific community
33:30as having the best record
33:32worldwide of the transition
33:34between the time intervals
33:36Pliensbaquiano and Tuarciano.
33:38But the best thing is
33:40to hear the explanation
33:42of a geologist
33:44and understand how this aspect
33:46is decisive in the candidacy
33:48of this territory
33:50to the UNESCO Geopark.
33:54I'm Bruno Pereira,
33:56I'm a geologist at the West Geopark
33:58and we are here at Ponta do Trovão
34:00to talk to you about
34:02one of the essential pillars
34:04for this candidacy to the Geopark
34:06which is Ponta do Trovão.
34:08It was identified
34:10a set of rocks
34:12that mark the transition
34:14between two geological levels.
34:16In geology, we divide
34:18the Earth's age
34:20in different levels,
34:22periods, eras
34:24and here, in this place,
34:26we can see that the rocks
34:28date from two different levels,
34:30the Pliensbaquiano
34:32and the Tuarciano.
34:34And here is very well marked
34:36the transition between
34:38these two levels,
34:40which has a transition estimated
34:42about 182 million years ago.
34:46How can we know that
34:48this transition occurs here?
34:50Exactly by the fossils.
34:52We have here traces of various organisms
34:54that show us the passage of time,
34:56that is, through them
34:58we can know the age of the rocks
35:00and we can know that these rocks
35:02formed on these two levels.
35:04Here at Ponta do Trovão
35:06we have what we call a stratotype.
35:08It's a strange name,
35:10but what it means is that
35:12we have here represented
35:14a slice of time
35:16that is internationally recognized
35:18as this being the best place
35:20to observe this slice of time.
35:22The various preserved vestiges
35:24that are here on the rocks
35:26of different fossils,
35:28for example the ammonites
35:30and the biliminites,
35:32as well as the lulas and the current rocks,
35:34which are very well visible
35:36here on these rocks
35:38and that allow us to know
35:40what the environment was like
35:42here at that time.
35:44They are well visible,
35:46but as we are in a protected area
35:48we have to be careful not to take them home.
35:50Why? Because the person who comes here
35:52will also want to see these vestiges.
35:54So, let's leave these vestiges here
35:56on the site, let's observe them,
35:58let's take the photos
36:00as a souvenir, but let's leave them here.
36:02Without this site, it would be impossible
36:04to have a candidate for the UNESCO
36:06World Geopark.
36:08This, being an international
36:10location in terms of geology,
36:12is essential for this
36:14geopark candidacy.
36:16Therefore, all UNESCO
36:18World Geoparks
36:20must have at least one
36:22international location,
36:24like here at Ponta do Trovão.
36:30PONTA DO TROVÃO
36:36Let's get back to the fossils
36:38and to the many questions that
36:40hover around in everyone's mind.
36:42From excavation to the lab,
36:44we have seen that it is
36:46a risky journey,
36:48and that sometimes it can be slow.
36:50The waiting line is big.
36:52Because, if it's true that there are
36:54more and more people working on fossils
36:56it is also true that there are
36:58What we have here is a storage area for the large volumes.
37:03It is here that the blocks are stored, let's say,
37:07as soon as they leave the field, with the GES, with the polyurethane
37:11or any other method that we use for the consolidation and transportation of the blocks.
37:17As you can see, here we have a case of these blocks that came out of an excavation that we did in 2015,
37:24which were not yet treated.
37:26Then we have a second case of an intermediate preparation,
37:30that is, it has already begun to prepare, but there are still parts of the envelope that was made
37:35for it to be transported safely, which still remains in the fossil.
37:39We can also see here a case of a fossil that is already completely prepared.
37:43It is a leg of a carnivorous dinosaur, a carcharodontosaurid,
37:48and in this case it is a lusovenator.
37:51And this is the final result after going through this whole process from the field,
37:58the waiting to be prepared, the intermediate phase of being prepared,
38:02the finalization of the preparation for the scientific publication
38:06and so that people can appreciate, in this case, this magnificent specimen.
38:11It is an icon of our understanding of Portuguese paleontology.
38:21DINOSAURS
38:25The first find of dinosaurs that appears in Portugal,
38:29in fact, in the Iberian Peninsula, comes from here, more specifically in the Portas Barcas area,
38:35and they are two teeth that were discovered by Carlos Ribeiro in 1863.
38:42He did not study them right away.
38:44The first proper study of dinosaurs was made by Henri Sauvage in 1897.
38:52And from a very early age, Portugal began to give letters to world paleontology
38:57through the wealth of our findings.
38:59And the western region, always here in highlight.
39:03This dinosaur ate herbivores such as the Myrrhagaia longicolum,
39:11which is a dinosaur that was discovered in the village of Myrrhagaia, in the Lourinhã County,
39:15and it is a unique genus.
39:18A dinosaur of the stegosaurus type, with plates on the back and thorns on the tail,
39:25very peculiar, a very long neck, and therefore the name longicolum, the long neck.
39:32Fortunately, it also ate sauropod dinosaurs,
39:36which are those with a long neck, they could reach 25 meters in length,
39:41such as the Dinerosaurus lourinensis, the Lusotitan atalaensis,
39:47it has that name because it is the giant of Lusitania, the giant of Portugal,
39:52the Lusotitan, from the village of Atalaia, and therefore Atalaensis,
39:56an animal of 12 meters in height, 23 meters in length.
40:02Or the Zebi Atlânticos, a powerful sauropod, about 16 meters in length,
40:10is on display at the Dinoparque Lourinhã, part of the skeleton that was discovered
40:17on the beach of Valpombas, here in this county.
40:20And there are only a few of these dinosaurs of fantastic wealth.
40:26In addition, obviously studying dinosaurs is fun, it is interesting,
40:32it makes us vibrate, we like it a lot, but it also becomes a great economic engine
40:40of a region, a region that now has an identity that revolves around
40:47dinosaurs and paleontology, and we have colleagues from all over the world
40:52who come here to learn how we did it, how they can apply it in their territories
40:58that also have fossils, but how we can value it.
41:03And then Geoparque has a fundamental role, and more, the people of Geoparque
41:09have a fundamental role. And it may not be by chance that here in this room
41:14the Portuguese Paleontology Society was born two weeks ago.
41:20This was the regional development strategy, involving science,
41:26the basis of all this, which is geology. We want geology as a human development strategy,
41:34development strategy for people using fossils.
41:40And this region has a collection of paleontology, one of the best in the world.
41:47Therefore, this Geoparque makes all the sense in terms of strategy.
41:53And here is really the epicenter of national paleontology and worldwide.
42:01Geoparque and the Lourinhã Museum
42:09The Lourinhã Museum, Dino Parque and us are precisely a catalyst for appreciation
42:16from the tourist and scientific point of view of the territory of West Geoparque,
42:21which allows the flow of people, not only to a paleontological point,
42:26but also to several paleontological points.
42:29That is, they will not visit only Torres Vedras and Lourinhã,
42:33but the information provided by Geoparque itself allows people to go to the territory,
42:39to see, in loco, where this fossil record is so diversified that we have.
42:50The Lourinhã, Bomarral, Peniche...
42:55Therefore, it brings a sustainable tourism, which is what we want,
43:00that remains in the territory and that this tourism is a tourism that visits the entire territory.
43:19Geoparque and the Lourinhã Museum
43:43I had already warned you that we would go on a trip through Jurassic lands.
43:48But it is in a blink of an eye that we enter the Geological Museum,
43:52located in the Old Convent of Jesus in Lisbon.
43:56In addition to the very rich geological and archaeological deposit,
44:01which accompanies the research and discoveries made in Portugal over the years,
44:06the museum itself is a trip to the past.
44:10Welcome to the Geological Museum of the National Laboratory of Energy and Geology,
44:15which is one of the oldest museums in the city of Lisbon.
44:18It is with Nery Delgado, Carlos Ribeiro and later, already in the 1970s,
44:22at a time when the Geological Commission was in full activity,
44:28that the first works of geological cartography,
44:33of systematic elevation of the territory,
44:36always with a very important component, which was the collection of paleontological materials,
44:40which served to date the sedimentary units
44:43and which came to constitute a very valuable collection,
44:46which at the moment still has interest from a scientific point of view.
44:50It is at this time that we can say that the geological recognition of the territory of the geopark
44:55begins to be known.
44:57Until then, it had been vaguely mentioned.
45:01Therefore, the oldest lands were more or less well known,
45:04the lands of the Mesozoic were very little known.
45:07There is a very interesting work, in 1892,
45:10in which, with extraordinary modernism,
45:12Chaufat describes all the geology of the western region
45:15in a geological tour of Lisbon to Leiria by train.
45:18Therefore, the western line, which could be absolutely valued,
45:22in the 19th century, was valued by Chaufat from a tourist point of view.
45:26Well, we also have some witnesses of very important phases
45:30in the history of the evolution of life.
45:32I am going to remember, for example, a set,
45:34there in the area of Bom Barral, of fossil plants,
45:37which are the oldest known flower plants in the world.
45:46In the Peniche region, we also have some very funny fossils.
45:50I was just remembering another very interesting group.
45:52It is a group of seahorses,
45:54belonging to the family of the group of seahorses,
45:57in which the peduncles have star shapes.
45:59Well, in the 17th century,
46:01these were interpreted as stars that had fallen from the sky.
46:04Once again, science revealed that they were remains of very old organisms.
46:09Everything that is studied and interpreted here has not yet been executed.
46:12Therefore, there is always the possibility of seeing younger people,
46:15with new knowledge,
46:18and make interpretations of all these materials.
46:29In the geological museum,
46:31we can find fossils of crocodiles,
46:34hippos or rhinos,
46:36which millions of years ago lived in a territory
46:39that was a vast swamp.
46:41But something tells me that it is the dinosaurs
46:44that attract visitors the most,
46:46at least the youngest.
46:48Lately, we have been very sought after by dinosaurs.
46:51We have one of the largest dinosaur collections in the country,
46:54and curiously, some of the oldest dinosaurs are kept here.
46:58Subsequently, more dinosaur remains have been found.
47:04We have a fabulous collection of dinosaur remains,
47:07many from the western region,
47:09but we have one of the best collections,
47:11and one of the first collections of dinosaur fossils.
47:14And perhaps that is why we are very sought after by young people.
47:18Systematically, one of the first groups they want to see,
47:22or the only group they want to see, are the dinosaurs.
47:25But we also try to contradict that a bit,
47:28to explain that the biodiversity,
47:30the paleobiodiversity of Portugal is very large.
47:34In addition to the dinosaurs,
47:36we have other specimens of fabulous animals and plants,
47:39which are also worth seeing.
47:56We have come to the end of this epic,
48:00with the certainty that paleontology
48:04is the past, the present and the future,
48:07at the hands of birds.
48:09Paleontology is no longer an incomprehensible science,
48:13confined to universities and scientists.
48:17We all can and should be curious.
48:20We all should ask more questions,
48:23look for more, know more,
48:26because the present is the key to the past,
48:30and understanding the past is foreseeing the future.
48:53JURASSIC PARK
49:16Jurassic Park
49:18is a small piece of all the wealth
49:21hidden in the rocks of the Aspiring West Geopark.
49:25We shouldn't be here
49:27when it's time to take the ticket for the next trip.
49:48JURASSIC PARK
50:18JURASSIC PARK