New Tupinambis Remains from the Late Miocene of Argentina and a Review of the South American Miocene Teiids

ALBINO, A. M.; BRIZUELA, S.; MONTALVO, C. I.

JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY

SOC STUDY AMPHIBIANS REPTILES

Año: 2006 vol. 40 p. 206 - 213

0022-1511

The most abundant and diverse records of teiids in the South American Miocene are from early and middle Miocene of Patagonia (Argentina) and Colombia. Only two genera of tupinambines are recognized: Paradracaena and Tupinambis. In this contribution, we describe remains assigned to Tupinambis from the late Miocene Cerro Azul Formation. The fossils were collected in exposures of this unit at several localities in the province of La Pampa, central Argentina. Evolutionary history and biogeography of South American tupinambines were affected by the environmental-climatic change subsequent to the uplift of the Andes. Among the taxa represented in the Miocene, Paradracaena became extinct, whereas Tupinambis survived restricted to environments with a more benign climate, disappearing from Patagonia but not from central Argentina.