New specimen of Pucatherium parvum (Xenarthra, Dasypodidae), a singular dasypodid of the Paleogene (Eocene) of northwest Argentina:importance in the early evolution of armadillos

ESTEBAN, GRACIELA; HERRERA, CLAUDIA ; DEL PAPA, CECILIA; CIANCIO, MARTÍN R.

JOURNAL OF VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY

SOC VERTEBRATE PALEONTOLOGY

Año: 2019 p. 1 - 11

0272-4634

A new specimen of Pucatherium parvum from the lower levels of the Upper Lumbrera Formation of SaltaProvince is reported. An almost complete dorsal carapace and several postcranial remains were preserved, providingimportant information about this particular taxon. The specimen is comparable in size to Dasypus novemcinctus, althoughthe osteoderms are very small. The dorsal carapace seems to be completely integrated by movable osteoderms, providing ahigh degree of mobility in the anteroposterior axis. There is no evidence of pseudoshield, scapular shield, or pelvic shield.The dating of 39.9 ± 0.4 Ma (U-Pb zircon), taken from a tuff close to the top of the Upper Lumbrera Formation, allows usto refer this record of P. parvum to the middle Eocene (Bartonian). This, together with its broad geographic distribution,allows correlating the Upper Lumbrera Formation with the Quebrada de los Colorados Formation in Salta Province andwith the Casa Grande Formation in Jujuy Province. On the other hand, the estimated depositional age of 37.3?35.4 Ma forthe Geste Formation in Salta Province extends the biocron of P. parvum to the late Eocene.