NEW CINGULATA (MAMMALIA, XENARTHRA) RECORDS FROM THE PALO PINTADO FORMATION (LATE MIOCENE-PLIOCENE), SALTA PROVINCE, ARGENTINA

ALFREDO E. ZURITA; BARASOAIN, DANIEL; CARLOS A. LUNA; SOFÍA I. QUIÑONES; GALLI, CLAUDIA I.; LANDA RAMIREZ, ENZO M.; ROBLEDO, JUAN M.; FARREL E; ZAMUDIO B; CANDELA, ADRIANA M.; CUADRELLI, FRANCISCO; ALONSO R.N

Simposio; VII SIMPOSIO MIOCENO ? PLEISTOCENO DEL CENTRO Y NORTE DE ARGENTINA; 2023

Cingulata (Early Eocene-Recent) is a very well-diversified clade during most of the Cenozoic era in South America, especially since the early Neogene. However, there is an evident imbalance in our knowledge of the Neogene diversity along Northwestern regions of Argentina (NWA) compared to the Pampean region, despite the importance of NWA to understand the evolutionary scenarios of several clades. In this framework, the Palo Pintado Formation (ca. 10–5 Ma) is one of the richest units in NWA, involving both the global warming of the Tortonian (ca. 11.6–7.25 Ma) and the global cooling event of the Messinian (ca. 7.25–5.33), coeval with the widespread of the C4 plants. Despite this, Cingulata from this key period are still poorly known. Since 2011 we started an interdisciplinary field work at Calchaqui Valley (Angastaco Basin), rich in Neogene vertebrate faunas. New remains partially fill this gap, adding new taxa: Chlamyphoridae Euphractinae Proeuphractus limpidus (fixed and mobile osteoderms) and Prozaedyus sp. (fixed osteoderm), Dasypodidae Dasypus sp. (fixed osteoderm); Pampatheriidae, Kraglievichia paranaensis (fixed osteoderms); and the Glyptodontidae Cranithlastus xibiensis (several osteoderms belonging to at least four specimens). Proeuphractus limpidus, Prozaedyus sp., and Dasypus sp. increase the previously known diversity, while the whole assemblage supports a Late Miocene age and a palaeofaunistic similitude to other coeval units such as Toro Negro (La Rioja), Puerta de Corral Quemado (Catamarca) and Guanaco (Jujuy) formations. Additionally, the record of Dasypussp. reinforces recent hypotheses extending the biochron of the genus to the Late Miocene in NW Argentina.