Rediscovery of the Allemann vertebrate collection from the Santa Cruz Formation (late early Miocene), Argentina at the Paleontological Museum, Zurich

CARRILLO, J.D.; SANCHEZ-VILLAGRA M.; FORASIEPI, A.M.; ZURITA ALTAMIRANO, A.D.; AGUIRRE-FERNÁNDEZ, G.

Münich

Jornada; 15th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontologists; 2017

European Association of Vertebrate Palaeontolologists

During most ofthe Cenozoic, South America was isolated and it was home of an endemic faunawhich included giant sloths, glyptodonts and terror birds (phorusrhacids) amongothers. One of the most important faunal assemblages that characterize thesepast ecosystems comes from the Santa Cruz Formation (Santacrucian SouthAmerican Land Mammal Age, 18.9-16.2 Ma, late early Miocene) in Patagonia,Argentina. Current curatorial efforts revealed a large collection (ca. 1000 specimens)of fossils from the Santa Cruz Formation, donated by the Olten Natural HistoryMuseum to the Paleontological Museum, University of Zurich in 2007. The fossilswere collected in the late 1880s by Theodor Allemann, an engineer and amateurcollector, who donated his collection in 1926 to Olten. The collection includescomplete skulls, isolated teeth, mandibles and isolated postcranial elements.Postcranials are mainly represented by astragali, calcanei, and osteoderms. Thesystematic revision of the material allowed us to recognize eight lineages ofmammals and one of birds: Astrapoteria (Astrapotheriidae), Cingulata (Chlamyphoridae),Litopterna (Macraucheniidae, Proterotheriidae), Notoungulata (Interatheriidae, Toxodontidae),Paucituberculata (Caenolestidae), Pilosa (Mylodontidae), Rodentia (Acaremyidae,Chinchillidae, Dasyproctidae, Dinomyidae, Eocardiidae, Neoepiblemidae),Sparassodonta (Hathliacynidae) and Cariamiformes (Phorusrhacidae). We haveidentified 22 genera and 17 species. Reference to previous work on the SantaCruz fauna and the good preservation of the material allow us to achievetaxonomic resolution in the identifications; using micro-CT scanning andpaleohistological sampling, new data regarding the paleobiology of theseanimals are being analyzed.