THE OLDEST MAMMALS FROM ANTARCTICA, EARLY EOCENE OF THE LA MESETA FORMATION, SEYMOUR ISLANDShow others and affiliations
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2015 (English)In: Palaeontology, ISSN 0031-0239, E-ISSN 1475-4983, Vol. 58Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
New fossil mammals found at the base of Acantilados II Allomember of the La Meseta Formation, from the early Eocene (Ypresian) of Seymour Island, represent the oldest evidence of this group in Antarctica. Two specimens are here described; the first belongs to a talonid portion of a lower right molar assigned to the sparnotheriodontid litoptern Notiolofos sp. cf. N.arquinotiensis. Sparnotheriodontid were medium- to large-sized ungulates, with a wide distribution in the Eocene of South America and Antarctica. The second specimen is an intermediate phalanx referred to an indeterminate Eutheria, probably a South American native ungulate. These Antarctic findings in sediments of 55.3Ma query the minimum age needed for terrestrial mammals to spread from South America to Antarctica, which should have occurred before the final break-up of Gondwana. This event involves the disappearance of the land bridge formed by the Weddellian Isthmus, which connected West Antarctica and southern South America from the Late Cretaceous until sometime in the earliest Palaeogene.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2015. Vol. 58
Keywords [en]
West Antarctica Palaeogene Ypresian tooth and bone morphology ungulates Sparnotheriodontidae itaborai basin paleocene condylarthra xenungulata litopterna peninsula brazil Paleontology
Research subject
SWEDARP 2012/13, Edens frusna lustgård 2012/13; SWEDARP 2010/11, Edens frusna lustgård
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:polar:diva-1898DOI: 10.1111/pala.12121OAI: oai:DiVA.org:polar-1898DiVA, id: diva2:810439
Note
ISI Document Delivery No.: AY4IU Times Cited: 0 Cited Reference Count: 46 Gelfo, Javier N. Moers, Thomas Lorente, Malena Lopez, Guillermo M. Reguero, Marcelo ANPCyT-Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica [PICTO 2010-0093]; CONICET-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas [PIP 0462]; Swedish Research Council [2009-4447]; Swedish Polar Research Secretariat [2010-84] Our sincere thanks to both Instituto Antartico Argentino-Direccion Nacional del Antartico and Fuerza Aerea Argentina which provided great logistic support for our Antarctic fieldwork. We thank the support in the PRE-CAV fieldtrip of Luis Bouchet and the rest of Heidi Group: Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche, Sergio Santillana and Jacobo Daniel; and in the CAV fieldtrip of Leonel Acosta, Carolina Vieytes, Juan Jose Moly, Claudia Tambussi and Alejandra Abello. Cecilia Deschamps improved the English grammar. We thank Michael O. Woodburne, Darin Croft, Hannah O'Regan and Sally Thomas for their valuable comments and suggestions. The authors were supported by PICTO 2010-0093 (ANPCyT-Agencia Nacional de Promocion Cientifica y Tecnologica), PIP 0462 (CONICET-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas), the Swedish Research Council (2009-4447) and the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (2010-84). 0 Wiley-blackwell Hoboken Paleontology
2015-05-072015-05-062017-12-04Bibliographically approved