The fossil carnivores (Carnivora: Mammalia) recorded in the caves of southeast Tocantins State: taxonomic, climatic and environmental aspects of the Late Pleistocene of nothern Brazil

RODRIGUES, S.; BERNARDES, C.; SOIBELZON, L.H.; AVILLA, L.

Jornada; Actas, XXVI Jornadas Argentinas de Paleontología de Vertebrados; 2012

The arrival of carnivore mammals on South America is associated to the biogeographicevent known as the GABI, on which a great diversity of Canidae, Felidae, Mephitidae,Mustelidae, Procyonidae and Ursidae migrated to this continent circa 3,5 Ma. Althoughstudies in Brazil about these predators are scarce, they consist of significant informationfor the understanding of past and present ecosystems. Here, we recognize craniodentalelements collected at “Gruta dos Moura” and “Gruta do Urso” caves at Aurora doTocantins, Tocantins State, Brazil. The material was identified through specializedliterature and by comparison with specimens from the zoological collections housed atBrazilian and Argentinean museums. The following species were identified:Arctotherium wingei (Ameghino, 1902), Galictis cuja (Molina, 1782), Leopardus cf.geoffroyi (d´Orbigny & Gervais, 1844), Leopardus pardalis (Linnaeus, 1758), Lycalopexgymnocercus (Fischer, 1814), Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758), Procyon cancrivorus(Cuvier, 1798) and Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771). The remains assigned to G. cuja, L.geoffroyi and L. gymnocercus represents the first record of these taxa for northern Brazil.According to our morphometric analysis, the specimen of P. onca from Gruta do Urso isbigger than the other extant members of the species. This specimen may represent thesubspecies P. onca mesembrina, whose record is also documented on the LatePleistocene/Holocene of southern Chile. These new records suggest that the climate andenvironment of the Brazilian northern region during the late Pleistocene was colder andmore arid, in contrast with the warm and humid climate of Cerrado today with an annualmean precipitation of ~ 1.600 mm.