Chronologic distribution of the Glyptodontidae (Mammalia, Cingulata) recorded in the Villavil-Quillay Basin, Catamarca, Argentina

NUÑEZ-BLASCO, A.; ZURITA, A. E; BONINI, R.; MIÑO-BOILINI, A.R.

Madrid

Congreso; 2nd Palaeontological Virtual Congress; 2020

The present work shows the precise age of some of the most complete fossil specimens belongingto Glyptodontidae exhumed in the Villavil-Quillay basin (Department of Belén, Catamarca Province,Argentina). Thisnspecimens were integrated into an ideal stratigraphic profile of the SantaMaría Group outcrops in this area, adding information of radiometric dating by K40/Ar40 andAr40/Ar39 isotopes performed by other authors. Concerning Doedicurinae, the genus Eleutherocercusshows a distribution of remains along the sequence, from 7.14±0.05 Ma to levels after 3.66±0.05 Ma; the geological record shows a higher concentration of fossils in the Zanclean,the lowest stage of the Pliocene, being also the taxon with the latest records together with thegenera Stromaphorus and Phlyctaenopyga. Oldest record of the genus Eosclerocalyptus is closeto 7.14±0.05 Ma, but remaining fossils were concentrated in levels ranging from 5.64±0.16 Ma to5.3±0.2 Ma, corresponding to the limit between the Messinian (the final stage of the Miocene)and the Zanclean (lowest Stage of the Pliocene). In turn, fossils of the genera Stromaphorus andPhlyctaenopyga are only recorded between ca. 6Ma. to 3.66±0.05 Ma, so far limited for the lateMessinian to all Zanclean stage. Obtaining a precise time frame for these fossils will allow us thepossibility of generating a much more reliable information in future in that concerning paleobiological, taxonomic and evolutionary issues still to be resolved for Glyptodontidae diversityof the Argentinian North Western region. Also, will allow a more accurate comparison with fossilremains of glyptodons of other areas of South America of equivalent age.