First record of the ichthyodectiform fish Xiphactinus (Teleostei) from Patagonia, Argentina

BOGAN, SERGIO; DE PASQUA, JULIETA J.; AGNOLIN, FEDERICO L.

ALCHERINGA

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

Año: 2020 p. 1 - 5

0311-5518

We report the first record of the genus Xiphactinus from southern South America. The recoveredfossil material consists of an associated maxilla and abdominal vertebra, probably derived from latest Maastrichtian marine deposits of the Salamanca Formation in Chubut Province, Argentina.Xiphactinus has been widely reported from Late Cretaceous strata throughout the NorthernHemisphere, although to date, equivalent Southern Hemisphere occurrences include only a singlespecimen from Venezuela. Our new discovery thus indicates that Xiphactinus had a much morecosmopolitan distribution, encompassing the southern paleolatitudinal extremities of SouthAmerica during the terminal Cretaceous.