The Romer collection from west-central Argentina at the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

VERA, BÁRBARA ; BYRD, CHRISTINA

Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology

Harvard University

Año: 2022 vol. 163 p. 211 - 246

0027-4100

A joint expedition between the Museum of Comparative Zoology of Harvard University(Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA) and the Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales(Buenos Aires, Argentina) explored outcrops in west-central Argentina during autumnof 1958. The team led by Alfred S. Romer collected fossils from several Cenozoicoutcrops from Mendoza, San Juan, and La Rioja provinces. Some of the recoveredfossils were previously published, including gastropods, birds, turtles, and mammals.However, other specimens, which belongs to the Vertebrate Paleontology collection atthe Museum of Comparative Zoology, remained unknown and even uncatalogued untilthe present contribution. Here, we present this peculiar collection for the first time,providing an updated taxonomic list of the vertebrate remains. Based on the studiedmaterial, we identified: 1) Glyptodontidae (cf. Propalaehoplophorus ), Dasypodidae (Stenotatus sp.), Mesotheriidae (cf. Altitypotherium ), Macraucheniidae(Cramaucheniinae gen. et sp. indet.) and Rodentia indet. in the Aisol Fm.; 2)Megatheriidae ( Pyramiodontotherium sp.) and Macraucheniidae (Macraucheniinaegen. et sp. indet.) in the Tunuyán Fm.; 3) Dasypodidae indet. in the Mariño Fm.; 4)Hegetotheriidae ( Hemihegetotherium sp., Pachyrukhinae gen sp. indet.,Paedotherium sp.) and Rodentia indet. in the Pilona Fm.; and 5) Cingulata indet.,Mesotheriidae ( Pseudotypotherium sp.), Hegetotheriidae ( Tremacyllus sp.),Chinchiliidae indet., and Hydrochoeridae indet. in the Huachipampa Fm. The reports ofthe Romer collection from Argentina allow the establishment of biochronologicalcorrelations between the lesser-known faunas from west-central Argentina and faunasfrom other areas of South America.