Octodontinos (Rodentia, Octodontidae) de la Formación Andalhuala en la localidad Encalilla, Tucumán, Argentina

TORRES CARRO, VANESA; NASIF, NORMA; ORTIZ, PABLO

Tucuman

Simposio; IV Simposio Mioceno-Pleistoceno centro-norte de Argentina y XX Congreso Geológico Argentino; 2018

AGA

The Subfamily Octodontinae includes living and extinct small caviomorphs rodents characterized by the presence of proto to euhypsodont molars with a typical octodontiform oclusal pattern. For the Neogene in northwestern Argentina four genera have been recognized: Phtoramys, Neophanomys, Pseudoplataeomys, and Pithanotomys. Here we report the record of octodontids from Encalilla, Tucumán province, recovered of levels of the Andalhuala Formation (ca. 6.02 Ma-ca. 3.2 Ma). We recognized three different species of Pseudoplataeomys, two indeterminate forms of Pithanotomys, and one specimen with affinities to Neophanomys but clearly larger. We suggest that the octodontines were the dominant elements of the small mammal communities in the region. This diversity could be related to the progressive aridization of the region during this interval.