A peculiar new Pampatheriidae (Mammalia: Xenarthra: Cingulata) from the Pleistocene of Argentina and comments on Pampatheriidae diversity

GOIS, F.; GONZÁLEZ-RUIZ, L.; SCILLATO-YANÉ, G. J.; SOIBELZON, E.

PLOS ONE

PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE

Lugar: San Francisco; Año: 2015

1932-6203

Pampatheriidae are a group of South American native cingulates known from the middle Miocene to the lower Holocene. Two genera have been recognized between the lower Pleistocene and the lower Holocene: Pampatherium Gervais and Ameghino (Ensenadan, Bonaerian and Lujanian, lower Pleistocene?lower Holocene) and Holmesina Simpson (Blancan, Irvingtonian, upper Pliocene?lower Holocene), differentiated mainly by osteoderm morphology and craneo-dental characters. These taxa had a wide latitudinal distribution, extending from the southern part of South America  (Península Valdés, Argentina) to North America (Florida, USA). In this contribution we describe a new genus and species of Pampatheriidae for the lower and middle Pleistocene of Buenos Aires Province and for the upper Pleistocene of Santa Fé Province  (Argentina).The new taxon, represented by disarticulated osteoderms, one skull element, two vertebrae, and right femur and patella, has extremely complex osteoderm ornamentations and particular morphological characters of the cranial element and femur that are not found in any other species of the family. This new taxon, recorded in the lower?middle Pleistocene (Ensenadan Age) and in the upper Pleistocene (Lujanian Age), is incorporated to the Pleistocene mammal assemblage of South America. Finally, the Pampatheriidae diversity is greater during the Lujanian than during the Ensenadan, probably due to the extension of geographic distributions of Brasilic taxa during the interglacial cycle at the end of the Pleistocene.