CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

During the last twenty years, several geological and stratigraphical studies have been undertaken in Córdoba Province, which provided useful bases for biostratigraphic researches of the late Cenozoic. However, the paleontological contributions are still preliminary analyses or specific discoveries. The aim of this work is to contribute to the knowledge of the biostratigraphy in central Argentina, through the study of fossil mammals from Córdoba Province. Five localities were analyzed, i.e., San Francisco, Miramar, Río Cuarto, Isla Verde, and Valle de Traslasierra. The exposures at each locality were prospected in order to recognize the different sedimentary strata and to establish the precise provenance of the fossil mammals studied. As a result, a biostratigraphic analysis was performed, and three ?assemblage zones? (biozonas de asociación) are proposed: 1) Neosclerocalyptus paskoensis Zurita, 2002-Equus (Amerhippus) sp. Assemblage Zone, with type area and section in San Francisco, referred to the Lujanian (late Pleistocene?early Holocene), and comparable to the Equus (Amerhippus) neogeus Lund, 1840 Biozone from Buenos Aires Province; 2) Neosclerocalyptus ornatus Owen, 1845-Catonyx tarijensis Gervais and Ameghino, 1880 Assemblage Zone with type area and section in San Francisco, referred to the Ensenadan (early Pleistocene) and comparable to the Mesotherium cristatum Serres, 1867 Biozone from Buenos Aires Province, and 3) Nonotherium hennigi Castellanos, 1942-Propanochthus bullifer Burmeister, 1870?1874 Assemblage Zone with type area and section at Los Sauces River, Valle de Traslasierra, referred to the Montehermosan?Chapadmalalan interval (late Miocene?late Pliocene), and comparable to the Trigodon gaudryi Ameghino, 1887, Neocavia depressidens Parodi and Kraglievich, 1848, and/or Paraglyptodon chapadmalensis Rovereto, 1914 biozones from Buenos Aires Province.