New parasite in a coprolite of 240 million years, biogeography of fossil coelacanths, and the influence of air pollutants in a coastal area of northeastern Brazil.

The present issue of the Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (AABC) publishes several papers on paleontology. Among them is the study of Priscilla da Silva (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz) and colleagues who have made quite an interesting discovery: a new parasite in a coprolite of 240 million years (Da Silva et al. 2014). Coprolites or fossilized feces are not particularly rare, being constantly recovered during paleontological excavations, for all in areas that represent ancient shallow seas, lagoons or lakes (e.g., Vila Nova et al. 2011), where often they can be the most common fossil found. Occasionally they are also found in terrestrial environments (Souto 2000). Nevertheless they are not very commonly reported upon, possibly due to the fact that it is very hard to be sure which kind of animal produced them. Notwithstanding, it is quite an important material to be studied since they provide some important information regarding an animal ́s diet.