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

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

JOURNAL OF SOUTH AMERICAN EARTH SCIENCES

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2008 vol. 25 p. 187 - 195

0895-9811

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