The Northernmost record of the goose genus Chloephaga (Eyton, 1838) (Aves, Anatidae) and its biogeographical implications

ÁLVAREZ-HERRERA, GERARDO P.; AGNOLÍN, FEDERICO L.; MÉNDEZ, CECILIA; LUNA, CARLOS; CUARANTA, PEDRO; CONTRERAS, SILVINA; ZURITA, ALFREDO E.

JOURNAL OF SOUTH AMERICAN EARTH SCIENCES

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Año: 2022

0895-9811

The aim of the present contribution is to describe a partial coracoid (CTES-PZ7797) coming from Upper Pleistocene Toropí/Yupoí Formation, in Corrientes province,Argentina. The comparative anatomical analysis indicates that it belongs to an indeterminatespecies of the goose genus Chloephaga, but sharing some characters with the living C. picta.Today, members of this genus breed in Southern Patagonia and migrate to southern BuenosAires province during the winter season, being its northernmost record 700 km far south fromthe fossil specimen here reported. The presence of Chloephaga farther north from its currentgeographical distribution is congruent with the presence in Upper Pleistocene outcrops in thearea of mammals that are adapted to arid environments. This constitutes another taxonrecorded at Arroyo Toropí that currently presents a different geographic distribution, such asobserved in Leopardus pardalis, Chaetophractus villosus, Boa constrictor, Dolichotispatagonica, among other, and shed light on the complex palaeobiogeographic scenario thatcould have developed during the MIS 5 in the Mesopotamian region of Argentina.