RECONSTRUCTING THE LATE MIOCENE PALEOENVIRONMENT OF NORTHWESTERN ARGENTINA: NEW SEDIMENTOLOGICAL AND FAUNISTIC EVIDENCE FROM THE PALO PINTADO FORMATION

ROBLEDO, JUAN MANUEL; DANIEL BARASOAIN; SOFÍA INÉS QUIÑONES; ENZO M. LANDA RAMÍREZ; ALFREDO E. ZURITA; CLAUDIA I. GALLI

RIVISTA ITALIANA DI PALEONTOLOGIA E STRATIGRAFIA

UNIV STUDI MILANO

Lugar: Milan, Italia; Año: 2023

0035-6883

The sedimentological characteristics and fossil vertebrates studies arenotoriously increasing in the earth sciences field, as a way to infer reliable informationabout the biota and the paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic context. In thisframework, we establish relationships among the flora, fauna and the depositionalenvironment during the Late Miocene in Northwestern Argentina. The sedimentologyfeatures are described in detail from sediments collected in the Quebrada Salta section,and the Xenarthra Cingulata Kraglievichia paranensis (Pampatheriidae) andCranithlastus xibiensis (Glyptodontidae) are recorded for the first time in the PaloPintado Formation (Salta Province, Argentina). The sedimentary observations supportthe presence of a sinuous sandy-gravel fluvial system with swamps and lacustrine,under a wet tropical climate. In this environment, the vertebrates here described wouldhave inhabited open zones close to these freshwater bodies, predominated by xericvegetation, mainly represented by grasses and sedges with scarce arboreous elements.