Actualización del conocimiento de los roedores del Mioceno tardío de la Mesopotamia argentina: aspectos sistemáticos, evolutivos y paleobiogeográficos

NASIF, N. L., CANDELA A.M., RASIA L.L, MADOZZO C. J. Y BONINI R.

AMEGHINIANA

ASOCIACION PALEONTOLOGICA ARGENTINA

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2013

0002-7014

Rodents recorded in the ?Conglomerado osífero?, outcropping at the base of the Ituzaingó Formation (=?Mesopotamiense?, Late Miocene, Huayquerian Land Mammals Age), are included in the Caviomorpha. Remains recovered in this unit show an important species diversity, encompassing all Caviomorph superfamilies and almost all the families recognized within the infraorder. Moreover, these rodents have a great variety of morphological patterns, such as wide body size ranges, and different degree of dental complexity and hypsodonty. Both attributes, taxonomic and morphological diversity, render Mesopotamian species important for the explanation of evolutionary and biogeographic aspects in the context of South American caviomorph history. In spite of the recent advances in the systematics of these rodents, in particular those from the ?Mesopotamiense?, several aspects concerning the number of species and their phylogenetic affinities remain unresolved. In this contribution the systematic knowledge of Caviomorpha from the Ituzaingó Formation (Entre Ríos Province) is updated and preliminary hypotheses about the biogeographic and palaeoenvironmental significance of some of them are proposed.