Extending the database of Permian palaeo-wildfire on Gondwana: Charcoal remains from the Rio do Rasto Formation (Parana Basin), Middle Permian, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil

Macroscopic charcoal has been recovered from a bonebed from the Barro Alto outcrop, Middle Permian (Guadalupian), Rio do Rasto Formation, in the southernmost part of the Parana Basin, Brazil. During this time, a global biotic crisis was taking place and changes in the palaeofloristic composition can be observed. Records of palaeowildfires from the Guadalupian Period are scarce on a global scale. In the Parana Basin low plant diversity, compared to the entirety of Gondwana, persists and just a few plant bearing localities have so far been described from the northern part of the basin. In the studied locality, macroscopic charcoal could be detected in an outcropping bonebed and the occurrence of palaeo-wildfires was confirmed. Besides representing the first palaeobotanical data for the Guadalupian of the southern part of the Parana Basin, the charcoal remains analyzed here are also a significant record of the local environmental conditions during the increase in aridity observed during the Guadalupian and Lopingian in Gondwana. This contributes to the understanding of regional changes that took place during this interval. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.