INVESTIGADORES
ZURITA Alfredo Eduardo
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
First evidence of scavenging in a Glyptodont (Mammalia, Glyptodontidae) from the Pliocene of the Pampean region (Argentina)
Autor/es:
DE LOS REYES, M.; ZURITA, A. E; SOIBELZON, E.; POIRÉ, D; ARROUY, M; CANALICCHIO, J.M.
Lugar:
Buenos Aires
Reunión:
Jornada; . XXVI Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados; 2012
Institución organizadora:
APA
Resumen:
The Cingulata Glyptodontidae (Xenarthra) are one of the most conspicuous Cenozoic herbivores clades in South America, reaching North American during the Great American Biotic Interchange. Until now, the evidence of predation on these large armored mammals was elusive. It was limited to a Pliocene skull (Glyptotherium Osborn) found in North America and some latest Pleistocene-early Holocene specimens (e.g. Doedicurus Burmeister) in South America, with signals of human consumption. In this contribution we present the first case of scavenging over a Glyptodontidae that we identify as cf. Eosclerocalyptus lineatus Ameghino (Hoplophorini), coming from the Pliocene ?Calera Facies? of the El Polvorín Formation, Olavarría, Buenos Aires province (Argentina). The evidence is represented by some bite marks that were observed over the neural apophysis of the middle section of the vertebral column. In addition, we analyze the potential scavengers and the paleoenvironmental context in which this occurred. The evidence suggests that: a) the environmental context in which the carcass was buried was represented by a shallow water body, probably an abandoned channel; b) the carcass was completely covered briefly; c) the morphology of the bite marks clearly coincides with the dentition of the procyonid Chapalmalania Ameghino, thus corroborating some presumptions about the ecological trends of this taxon