Late Miocene continental biota in Northeastern Patagonia (Península Valdés, Chubut, Argentina)

A new vertebrate faunal assemblage was recently discovered from the uppermost part of the late Miocene Puerto Madryn Formation. These deposits crop out along the southwestern coast of the Península Valdés area near Punta Delgada (Chubut Province, Argentina). The exhumed vertebrate fauna includes a r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Palaeogeography, palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology palaeoclimatology, palaeoecology, 2010-11, Vol.297 (1), p.100-109
Main Authors: Dozo, María Teresa, Bouza, Pablo, Monti, Alejandro, Palazzesi, Luis, Barreda, Viviana, Massaferro, Gabriela, Scasso, Roberto A., Tambussi, Claudia P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Argentina
Continental fossil vertebrates
Late Miocene
Loricariidae
Neogene
Patagonia
Península Valdés
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Summary:A new vertebrate faunal assemblage was recently discovered from the uppermost part of the late Miocene Puerto Madryn Formation. These deposits crop out along the southwestern coast of the Península Valdés area near Punta Delgada (Chubut Province, Argentina). The exhumed vertebrate fauna includes a range of fish, bird and mammal taxa, of which the latter are most varied and abundant. The new findings represent the first record of continental fossil vertebrates in the Puerto Madryn Formation and this is the first assemblage of late Miocene continental vertebrates recorded to the south of Río Negro Province. It also includes the southernmost record of Hydrochoeridae rodents, Dendrocygninae birds and Loricariidae fishes. The mammals suggest that the fossil-bearing sediments are Huayquerian in age. The climate during the accumulation of late Miocene deposits in this region is inferred to have been warmer and seasonally drier than that of today.
ISSN:0031-0182
1872-616X
DOI:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.07.018