Two new fossil vertebrate localities in the Santa Cruz formation (late early Miocene, Argentina), ~51º South latitude

KAY, R. F.; VIZCAÍNO, S. F.; BARGO, M. S.; PERRY, J. M.G.; PREVOSTI, F.; FERNICOLA, J. C.

JOURNAL OF SOUTH AMERICAN EARTH SCIENCES

ELSEIVER

Año: 2008 vol. 25 p. 187 - 195

0895-9811

Two new fossil vertebrate localities are described from the Santa Cruz Formation (late early and early middle Miocene) of coastal Patagonia. They are noteworthy because they are the lowest stratigraphically of any precisely recorded in coastal Santa Cruz Province and they contain a rich fauna including many partially articulated skeletons undisturbed by collecting. Thus, they offer the potential for taphonomic analysis and paleocommunity reconstruction. The latter is particularly intriguing because the fauna document the Miocene Climatic Optimum at >51º South latitude. Together with several previously documented sites in this region, it offers a potential window into the nature of mammalian communities farther south than any other in the world during this time and documents the farthest south distribution of primates.