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Dryad

Data from: The Neogene record of northern South American native ungulates

Cite this dataset

Carrillo, Juan D. et al. (2019). Data from: The Neogene record of northern South American native ungulates [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.m1n44

Abstract

South America was isolated during most of the Cenozoic, and it was home to an endemic fauna. The South American Native Ungulates (SANUs) exhibited high taxonomical, morphological, and ecological diversity and were widely distributed on the continent. However, most SANU fossil records come from high latitudes. This sampling bias challenges the study of their diversity dynamics and biogeography during important tectonic and biotic events, such as the Great American Biotic Interchange, the faunal exchange between North and South America after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama. We describe new SANU remains from the Neogene of the Cocinetas (northern Colombia) and Falcón (northwestern Venezuela) Basins. In the Cocinetas Basin, the middle Miocene fauna of the Castilletes Formation includes Hilarcotherium miyou sp. nov. (Astrapotheriidae), cf. Huilatherium (Leontiniidae), and Lambdaconus cf. L. colombianus (Proterotheriidae). The late Pliocene fauna of the Ware Formation includes a Toxodontinae indet. and the putative oldest record of Camelidae in South America. In the Falcón Basin, the Pliocene/Pleistocene faunas of the Codore and San Gregorio Formations include Falcontoxodon aguilerai gen. et sp. nov. and Proterotheriidae indet. We provide a phylogenetic analysis for Astrapotheriidae and Toxodontidae. The new data document a low-latitude provinciality within some SANU clades (e.g., Astrapotheriidae, Leontiniidae) during the middle Miocene. This contrasts with the wide latitudinal distribution of clades of other mammals recorded in the fauna, including the sparassodont Lycopsis padillai, the sloth Hyperleptus, and the proterotheriid Lambdaconus cf. L. colombianus.

Usage notes

Funding

National Science Foundation, Award: EAR 0957679

Location

South America
Falcón basin
Venezuela
Colombia
Cocinetas basin