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The Parana - meaning "like the sea" in the Tupi-Guarani language spoken by local indigenous peoples, owing to its vastness - is formed by the convergence of two rivers in Brazil, the Rio Grande and the Paranaiba.

For example, the discovery of a type of amphibian called a dvinosaur in the �ʲ������Բ�í���� Basin adds a new point on the map along with finds from North America and Russia, she says.

In addition to filling a fossil gap in a previously little-known part of the world, the �ʲ������Բ�í���� Basin has the potential to explain how some of these weird amphibians evolved and moved around the planet, says McHugh, who wasn't involved in the new study.

The unusual fossil amphibians, described by Field Museum paleontologist Kenneth Angielczyk and colleagues in Nature Communications on November 5, were found in Brazil’s �ʲ������Բ�í���� Basin and date back to the early part of the Permian period, about 278 million years ago.

The �ʲ������Բ�í���� Basin seemed like a good place to look to start filling in some of the global gaps: For one, it was located in the subtropics, south of well-known territory, Angielczyk says.