A review of the Miocene record of Pampatheriidae (Mammalia, Xenarthra) from Uruguay

The Pampatheriidae represents an extinct group of cingulates whose remains are mostly known from Quaternary sediments. Contrary, the Mio-Pliocene record of the group is infrequent and largely based on fragmentary materials. In Uruguay, Miocene Pampatheriidae has been described almost exclusively on the basis of isolated osteoderms assigned to Kraglievichia paranense (Ameghino). A few communications also refer to the possible occurrence of the genus Vassallia Castellanos. In this contribution we review the taxonomic status of those past mentions and present three sets of unpublished materials deposited in the collections of the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural (MNHN), and the Paleontological Museum of the Real de San Carlos (AC). MNHN 2528 includes two fixed osteoderms associated with a nearly complete skull preserving the full dental series except for both M1 and the right M2, and the apex of the rostrum (part of the premaxilla and the nasal regions). MNHN 1482 includes numerous osteoderms, partially complete mandibular rami, the right ulna, the left astragalus and a fragment of the pelvis, all belonging to one specimen. Both fossils were exhumed from the Balneario Arazatí (San José Department) in sediments of the Camacho Formation (late Miocene, Huayquerian SALMA), and are provisionally assigned to Vassallia sp. AC 1050 is an almost completely articulated carapace which contains part of the skull, several isolated osteoderms and some vertebrae, collected in the marine facies of the San Pedro Member of the Camacho Formation, in Colonia Department. This material has a particular set of morphological features (i.e., configuration of the teeth, patterns of ornamentation in the osteoderms) which demands to be cautious on its taxonomical allocation. The finding of these associated cranial and exoskeletal remains becomes an important element for the current review of the taxonomy of the Mio-Pliocene South American Pampatheriidae.Sesiones libresFacultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

A new genus and species of a giant Dinomyidae (Rodentia, Caviomorpha) from the late Miocene of Uruguay

The Dinomyidae composed a family of "giant" rodents, restricted to South America. Nowadays this family includes only the "pacarana", a medium size caviomorph mostly distributed through the Amazonian Basin. Nevertheless, the past diversity of the group was notable with more than 60 described species currently grouped into five extinct subfamilies. Eumegamyinae is one of these subfamilies, characterized by hosting medium to big size forms including the largest known rodents. In this communication we describe the remains of a new giant Eumegamyinae exhumed from the coast of San José Department (southern Uruguay), in sediments of the Camacho Formation, assigned to the late Miocene Huayquerian SALMA. The remains include the posterior region of the skull, the occipital condyles, and the entire right auditory region of a unique animal. In connection with the crania we recovered the atlas and the almost complete dental series. The premolo-molar series are characterized by having the P4, M1 and M2 composed by five transverse lophs of which the first two (anterior ones) remain free, while the three posterior ones are joined together by the lingual (internal) side. The M3 is composed by three anterior free lophs and two posterior ones, joined at the lingual side. The auditive region has a short meatus acusticus externus with the foramen stylomastoideum located below them, and a well developed ectotympanic cavity. Based on the state of development of the foramen stylomastoideum and the presence or absence of the ectotympanic cavity, we describe two morphologies for the Eumegamyinae auditory region. The taxonomic and systematic relevance of the dental series versus the auditory region in Dinomyidae is discussed.Sesiones libresFacultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Burdigalian deposits of the Santa Cruz Formation in the Sierra Baguales, Austral (Magallanes) Basin: Age, depositional environment and vertebrate fossils

Indexación: Web of Science; Scielo.ABSTRACT. A succession of marine and continental strata on the southern flank of Cerro Cono in the Sierra Baguales, northeast of Torres del Paine, can be correlated with stratigraphic units exposed along the southern border of the Lago Argentino region in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. These include the Estancia 25 de Mayo Formation and the basal part of the Santa Cruz Formation. The lithological correlation is also confirmed by detrital zircon ages (maximum age of 18.23±0.26 Ma) and a rich assemblage of terrestrial vertebrate fossils, biostratigraphically equivalent to a postColhuehuapian, pre-Santacrucian South American Land Mammal Age (SALMA) fauna, suggesting a range of 19 to 17.8 Ma. Similar ages have been obtained from the basal part of the Santa Cruz Formation at Estancia Quién Sabe in southwestern Argentina, supporting the assumption of a regional continuity between these deposits. A measured lithostratigraphic column is presented and the depositional environment is interpreted as a coastal plain with small, meandering rivers and ephemeral floodplain lakes. The sedimentation coincides with intensified uplift of the Patagonian Andes during the ‘Quechua Phase’ of Andean tectonism, which is reflected by a change in paleocurrent directions from northwest to east-northeast. Keywords: Burdigalian, Santa Cruz Formation, Santacrucian SALMA, ‘Notohippidian’ fauna, Meandering rivers.RESUMEN. Una sucesión de estratos marinos y continentales en el flanco meridional del cerro Cono, en la sierra Baguales, al noreste de Torres del Paine, se correlaciona con estratos al sur de la región de lago Argentino en la Provincia de Santa Cruz, República Argentina. Estas unidades incluyen la Formación Estancia 25 de Mayo y la parte basal de la Formación Santa Cruz. La correlación litológica es, además, confirmada por datación de circones detríticos (edad máxima de 18,23±0,26 Ma) y un variado ensamble de vertebrados fósiles terrestres de edad post-Colhuehuapense a pre-Santacrucense en la escala de Edades Mamífero Sudamericanas (EMAS), con un rango temporal de entre 19 a 17,8 Ma. Edades similares han sido reportadas para la parte basal de la Formación Santa Cruz, en estancia Quién Sabe, en el suroeste de Argentina, ratificando la continuidad regional entre estos depósitos. Se presenta una columna estratigráfica y se interpreta el ambiente de depositación como una llanura costera con pequeños ríos sinuosos y lagos efímeros. La edad de sedimentación coincide con el solevantamiento de los Andes Patagónicos durante la 'Fase Quechua', lo que se ve reflejado por un cambio en la dirección de las paleocorrientes desde el noroeste hacia el este-noreste.http://ref.scielo.org/csxwd

New cladotherian mammal from southern Chile and the evolution of mesungulatid meridiolestidans at the dusk of the Mesozoic era

In the last decades, several discoveries have uncovered the complexity of mammalian evolution during the Mesozoic Era, including important Gondwanan lineages: the australosphenidans, gondwanatherians, and meridiolestidans (Dryolestoidea). Most often, their presence and diversity is documented by isolated teeth and jaws. Here, we describe a new meridiolestidan mammal, Orretherium tzen gen. et sp. nov., from the Late Cretaceous of southern Chile, based on a partial jaw with five cheek teeth in locis and an isolated upper premolar. Phylogenetic analysis places Orretherium as the earliest divergence within Mesungulatidae, before other forms such as the Late Cretaceous Mesungulatum and Coloniatherium, and the early Paleocene Peligrotherium. The in loco tooth sequence (last two premolars and three molars) is the first recovered for a Cretaceous taxon in this family and suggests that reconstructed tooth sequences for other Mesozoic mesungulatids may include more than one species. Tooth eruption and replacement show that molar eruption in mesungulatids is heterochronically delayed with regard to basal dryolestoids, with therian-like simultaneous eruption of the last premolar and last molar. Meridiolestidans seem endemic to Patagonia, but given their diversity and abundance, and the similarity of vertebrate faunas in other regions of Gondwana, they may yet be discovered in other continents.Fil: Martinelli, Agustín Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; Argentina. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Soto Acuña, Sergio. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Goin, Francisco Javier. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleontología Vertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Kaluza, Jonatan Ezequiel. Universidad Maimónides; Argentina. Universidad de Chile; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Estudios Andinos "Don Pablo Groeber"; ArgentinaFil: Bostelmann, J. Enrique. Universidad Austral de Chile; ChileFil: Fonseca, Pedro H. M.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Reguero, Marcelo Alfredo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleontología Vertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Leppe, Marcelo. Instituto Antártico Chileno; ChileFil: Vargas, Alexander O.. Universidad de Chile; Chil

Serie 4", "Escalinata II

I.O. Al reverso de la fotografía lleva escrito a lápiz: "Serie 4", "Escalinata II", "1974", "Enrique Bostelmann" y la firma del autor. Biografía: Enrique Bostelmann n. en Guadalajara, Jalisco, en marzo de 1939. En 1958 recibe una beca para estudiar la maestría en fotografía en la Bayerische Staatslehranstalt der Photographie en Munich, en la Alemania Federal. En el año de 1960 se inicia como fotógrafo profesional. Impartió clases en el Instituto Paul Coremans en la ciudad de México, de 1983 a 1986 fue vicepresidente del Consejo Mexicano de la Fotografía. En la Bienal de fotografía del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes fungió como jurado así como en los premios Kinsa en Rochester, el premio Geomundo, el Premio Casa de las Américas en La Habana, en la Universiada, entre otros. Referencias: LOS UNIVERSITARIOS, nueva época núm. 25, octubre de 2002, México, D.F., pp.38, Nota: en la imagen se observan dos niñas, la del centro, está sentada en la escalinata y se cubre parte del rostro probablemente con un pañuelo de tela. En el libro "América, un viaje a través de la injusticia" de Enrique Bostelmann aparece una fotografía que forma parte de la serie 4, tal como la que se muestra. En opinión de Carlos Fuentes; "... las imágenes de Bostelmann son algo más que un testimonio de nuestros pueblos sometidos y miserables: son fotografías de un destino. Ese destino es la suma de las evidencias..." Depuró: Perla Ibarra Montes de Oca, 25/09/09

Día de plaza III

En la guarda se lee: "CONSEJO MEXICANO DE FOTOGRAFIA Enrique Bostelman "Día de Plaza III" 1969." I.O. Al reverso: "Enrique Bostelman "Día de Plaza" 1969". Esta imagén forma parte del libro "América Un viaje a través de la injusticia", el cual surge apartir del recorrido de Bostelmann por senderos recónditos en Sierra Gorda, Querétaro y humildes poblados sudamericanos, capturando a cada momento las injusticias propias de nuestro continente. Denuncia sin falsa piedad la realidad social de estas personas. Como señala Carlos Fuentes: "Las imagenes de Bostelman son algo más que un testimonio de los pueblos sometidos y miserables: son las fotografías de un destino". Véase: //www.cronica.com.mx, Juan Carlos Aguilar García, 1 de julio de 2006. *www.enriquebostelmann.com/blog/?p=52 *América Un viaje a través de la Injusticia, Enrique Bostelmann. La imagen se exhibe en el Museo de la Fotografía de la Fototeca Nacional. Catalogó: Ariadna Herrera R., 13 de octubre de 2009

Paleohistology of Caraguatypotherium munozi (Mammalia, Notoungulata, Mesotheriidae) from the early late Miocene of northern Chile: A preliminary ontogenetic approach.

The Miocene Caragua fossil fauna in northern Chile contains a considerable number (7) of articulated partial skeletons tentatively assigned to Caraguatypotherium munozi (Notoungulata, Mesotheriidae), which presents up to 40% body size difference. Since either inter- and intra- specific wide size range has been observed in the Mesotheriidae family in general, we wanted explore the ontogenic stage signature of the sample, by carrying out the first comprehensive paleohistological description of the appendicular system in Notoungulata. Results show that: 1) they can be classified as subadults and adults, based on the presence of bone tissues typical of ceased somatic growth; 2) there is a notorious inter-skeletal variation on bone growth rates (skeletal modularity), particularly, the humerus showed a slower diameter growth and less remodelling than the femur, resulting as a better element for ontogenetic analyses; 3) marked cyclical growth is observed, characterised by fast early ontogenic continuous growth, and subsequent fast/slow stratified bone tissue layering. In general, such growth pattern suggests that C. munozi had a similar ontogenetic growth process as other modern mammals, that it should also be influenced by other sex-related, ecological and environmental factors. Likely related to the presence of rapid climatic variations, due to orogenic uplift and concomitant re-organization of the drainage processes along the western tectonic front of the Central Andes at that time

Reassessment of the hairy long-nosed armadillo “Dasypus” pilosus (Xenarthra, Dasypodidae) and revalidation of the genus Cryptophractus Fitzinger, 1856

International audienceThe hairy long-nosed armadillo, currently referred as Dasypus (Cryptophractus) pilosus, is an enigmatic species endemic to montane cloud forests and subparamo of Peruvian Andes. Its strikingly different external features, which include the carapace concealed by abundant hair, the presence of more movable bands, and a slender skull, have raised questions regarding its taxonomic status as subgenus or as genus. This paper assesses this issue based on a cladistic study and provides a detailed comparative description of the species, including the first account on the distinctive ornamentation of its osteoderms. Based on several unique characters in the carapace, skull, mandible, and teeth, as well as on the external phylogenetic position relative to other Dasypus, we favor the assignment of the hairy long-nosed armadillo to other genus. As result, we revalidate the original generic epithet, so that the valid name of the species is Cryptophractus pilosus Fitzinger, 1856

A late Pleistocene human footprint from the Pilauco archaeological site, northern Patagonia, Chile.

The present study describes the discovery of a singular sedimentary structure corresponding to an ichnite that was excavated at the paleo-archaeological site Pilauco (Osorno, Chile). The trace fossil is associated with megafauna bones, plant material and unifacial lithic tools. Here we present a detailed analysis of the Pilauco ichnite and associated sedimentary structures, as well as new radiocarbon data. The ichnological analysis confidently assigns the trace to the ichnospecies Hominipes modernus-a hominoid footprint usually related to Homo sapiens. Some particular characteristics of the Pilauco trace include an elongated distal hallux, lateral digit impressions obliterated by the collapsed sediment, and sediment lumps inside and around the trace. In order to evaluate the origin of the ichnite, trackmaking experiments are performed on re-hydrated fossil bed sediments. The results demonstrate that a human agent could easily generate a footprint morphology equivalent to the sedimentary structure when walking on a saturated substrate. Based on the evidence, we conclude that the trackmaker might well have been a bare-footed adult human. This finding, along with the presence of lithic artifacts in the same sedimentary levels, might represent further evidence for a pre-Clovis South American colonization of northern Patagonia, as originally proposed for the nearby Monte Verde site

Data from: A late Pleistocene human footprint from the Pilauco archaeological site, Northern Patagonia, Chile

The present study describes the discovery of a singular sedimentary structure corresponding to an ichnite that was excavated at the paleo-archaeological site Pilauco (Osorno, Chile). The trace fossil is associated with megafauna bones, plant material and unifacial lithic tools. Here we present a detailed analysis of the Pilauco ichnite and associated sedimentary structures, as well as new radiocarbon data. The ichnological analysis confidently assigns the trace to the ichnospecies Hominipes modernus—a hominoid footprint usually related to Homo sapiens. Some particular characteristics of the Pilauco trace include an elongated distal hallux, lateral digit impressions obliterated by the collapsed sediment, and sediment lumps inside and around the trace. In order to evaluate the origin of the ichnite, trackmaking experiments are performed on re-hydrated fossil bed sediments. The results demonstrate that a human agent could easily generate a footprint morphology equivalent to the sedimentary structure when walking on a saturated substrate. Based on the evidence, we conclude that the trackmaker might well have been a bare-footed adult human. This finding, along with the presence of lithic artifacts in the same sedimentary levels, might represent further evidence for a pre-Clovis South American colonization of northern Patagonia, as originally proposed for the nearby Monte Verde site