The island of Cajual is located in the

Baía de São Marcos The Baía de São Marcos is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in Maranhão state of northeastern Brazil. The bay is an estuary approximately long and up to wide. It receives several rivers, including the Grajaú, Mearim, and Pindaré. The Mearim ...

near to

Alcântara, Maranhão Alcântara is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Maranhão. The municipality has a population of 22,112 (2020) and an area of 1458 km2. The municipality is 30 km away from the state's capital, São Luís. History Founded by Fre ...

, Brazil. The island is an important Brazilian paleontological site, where fossils of animals such as ''

Spinosaurus ''Spinosaurus'' (; ) is a genus of large spinosaurid theropod dinosaurs that lived in what now is North Africa during the Cenomanian faunal stage, stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 100 to 94 annum, million year ...

'' and ''

Sigilmassasaurus ''Sigilmassasaurus'' ( ; "Sijilmassa lizard") is a controversial genus of spinosaurid dinosaur that lived approximately 100 to 94 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous Period in what is now northern Africa. Named in 1996 by Canadian pal ...

'' were found, and also such plants as

conifers Conifers () are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All e ...

and ferns. The finds include the remains of the largest carnivorous dinosaur in Brazil. Traces of the maxillary and nostril of the specimen were found. Known as ''Oxalaia quilombensis'', the species is part of the family of

dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

known as

Spinosauridae Spinosauridae (or spinosaurids) is a clade or Family (taxonomy), family of tetanuran theropod dinosaurs comprising ten to seventeen known genera. Spinosaurid fossils have been recovered worldwide, including Africa, Europe, South America, and Asia. ...

, with elongated skulls and spines along the back. The presence of fossils also present in Africa proves that the continents were once united, forming

Gondwana Gondwana ( ; ) was a large landmass, sometimes referred to as a supercontinent. The remnants of Gondwana make up around two-thirds of today's continental area, including South America, Africa, Antarctica, Australia (continent), Australia, Zea ...

. The "Lage of the Joker", where the fossils are found, is up to 2 meters below the water at high tide, so it can only be visited for only a few hours a day. Currently, the island of Cajual is home to a small community of ''

quilombola A ''quilombola'' () is an Afro-Brazilian resident of ''quilombo'' settlements first established by escaped slaves in Brazil. They are the descendants of Afro-Brazilian slaves who escaped from slave plantations that existed in Brazil until abol ...

s''.

References

{{coord, -2.478, -44.486, type:isle_region:BR, display=title Landforms of Maranhão Atlantic islands of Brazil