INVESTIGADORES
ZURITA Alfredo Eduardo
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
NEW ANALYSIS OF VETELIA GANDHII (XENARTHRA, CINGULATA) GIVES A NOVEL HYPOTHESIS: WAS THIS ARMADILLO A CARNIVOROUS TOLYPEUTINE?
Autor/es:
BARASOAIN, DANIEL; GONZÁLEZ RUIZ, LAUREANO; TOMASSINI, RODRIGO; ZURITA, A. E; CONTRERAS, VÍCTOR
Lugar:
Madrid
Reunión:
Congreso; 2nd Palaeontological Virtual Congress; 2020
Resumen:
Vetelia is a genus of armadillos traditionally included within the subfamily Euphractinae(Chlamyphoridae), restricted to the Miocene of Argentina. It includes the species V. puncta (earlyand middle Miocene, Santacrucian, Friasian s.s., and Colloncuran), V. perforata (middle andlate Miocene; Mayoan, Chasicoan, and Huayquerian), and V. gandhii (late Miocene; Chasicoan,Huayquerian), mostly known by isolated osteoderms. In this contribution, we analyze and describeboth cranial and postcranial remains assigned to V. gandhii (PVSJ-289; PVSJ-154) fromthe late Miocene of Loma de Las Tapias Formation (Chasicoan) of San Juan Province, Argentina.The morphology of the osteoderms of the dorsal carapace suggest a higher affinity withthe extant representatives of Tolypeutinae, including Priodontes, Cabassous, and Tolypeutes,rather than those of Euphractinae, based on: i) similar ornamentation pattern of both fixedand mobile osteoderms; ii) mobile and fixed osteoderms with external rugose surface; and iii)fixed osteoderms becoming subcircular towards the carapace lateral margins. Though molecularanalyses already place the tolypeutines at ~26 Ma, and the most ancient record is representedby the Oligocene Kuntinaru; remains of these armadillos are extremely scarce in the fossil record;a circumstance that could be enhanced by a historic misidentification of Tolypeutinae diagnosticcharacters. Additionally, we carry out for the first time an anatomical analysis on Veteliacranio-mandibular features, which is characterized by a dorsoventrally expanded rostrum,very robust horizontal ramus, powerful anterior dentition, presence of premaxillary teeth, massivechisel-shaped molariforms, and absence of anterior dental diastema, suggesting a trend orspecialization towards carnivory.