A more parsimonious vision about the recently new species of armadillo dasypodids Eutatus crispianii Brambilla and Ibarra, 2017 from the Late Pleistocene of Northern Pampa

LUNA CARLOS.A; VEZZOSI, RAÚL I.; BRUNETTO, ERNESTO

Corrientes

Jornada; 32 Jornadas de Paleontología de Verbetrados; 2018

CECOAL-CONICET, UNNE, AMEGHINIANA

In a recent publication the potentially new speciesof armadillo Eutatini have been reported from the Lujanian Stage/Age ofNorthern Pampean Region, only on the basis of the description of fixedosteoderms supposedly attributed to the pelvic buckler. However, severalobservations prevent us from accepting the validity of these assumptions. Herewe discuss the chronology, stratigraphical provenance and the assignment of thefossil record MG-G-Pv 020 (ex MGPV-E1) to a new Eutatini species. Thefossiliferous bearing contains a mixture of Quaternary faunal elements thatrecently have been assigned by OSL dating to Middle Pleistocene (MIS7?MIS6)from Santa Fe. Clearly these deposits not correspond with the localchronostratigraphic/geochronology Lujanian Stage/Age and neither with theSaladillo Formation. The lack of a geochronological context in the study andthe absence of a local knowledge about the stratigraphic succession inhibit itscorrelation with other palaeontological comparable sites and a robust inferenceabout its chrononolgy to Late Pleistocene. The MG-G-Pv 020, a specimen thatpreserved only osteoderms from the buckler shows several morphological andmicrostructural characters (e.g. external surface foramina, development ofpiliferous foramina, glandular cavities and ducts, among others) that areincluded within the range of variability of Eutatusseguini. Meanwhile, others characters previously cited as diagnoses amongthe species for the genus are reviewed. The discussed caveats regarding of thechronology and taxonomy on a supposed new Eutatini species indicate thatdetailed stratigrapical and anatomical studies are needed before thestatistical and morphometric hypotheses advanced can be accepted.