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International audience; New remains of a relatively plesiomorphic nothrotheriid sloth have been recovered from upper Miocene-aged deposits near the village of Achiri in the Altiplano of Bolivia. The new specimens appear allied to other middle and late Miocene remains from Argentina and Bolivia that have been assigned to the pseudo-genus "Xyophorus." "Xyophorus" has not previously been recognized as a distinct genus because of the paucity of material it encompasses. The new specimens, however, include a well-preserved squamosal with attached auditory region, and an isolated astragalus. These elements, which are described in detail, provide a sufficient number of distinctive characters to place the previous fossils assigned to "Xyophorus" into a new monotypic genus. Beyond exhibiting a suite of distinctive autapomorphies which justify its formal taxonomic designation, the new taxon shares several synapomorphies with more derived members of Nothrotheriidae, but also retains a number of plesiomorphies characteristic of basal megatherioid taxa, and shows a number of intermediate features. Although the new taxon is too incomplete to justify a full phylogenetic analysis, it appears to represent a basal member of Nothrotheriidae. Resolution of the taxonomic status of the genus Xyophorus awaits a better understanding of the taxonomy of early Miocene-aged basal megatherioids.

International audience; Currently, marsupials (modern members of the Metatheria clade) are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical areas of South America, but poorly represented in the fossil record of these regions. Except for the species-rich fossiliferous localities of La Venta in Colombia, additional Miocene metatherians from tropical, equatorial South America are sparsely reported in Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and Venezuela. Here, we introduce new metatherian remains recovered from the late middle Miocene locality of TAR-31, San Martín Department, Peru, which has been assigned to the Laventan South American Land Mammal Age (~13 Ma) by mammalian biostratigraphy. Three metatherian taxa are recognized at TAR-31: the didelphid didelphimorph ‘Thylamys’ cf. ‘T.’ colombianus, and the paucituberculatans aff. Palaeothentes and Pitheculites ipururensis sp. nov. This assemblage and the presence of a cebid primate at TAR-31 suggests predominantly humid and warm tropical conditions, with the occurrence of both forests and drier habitats in the surroundings. Comparisons with other Miocene metatherian assemblages at low and mid latitudes of South America clearly confirm close relationships between TAR-31 and La Venta (agreeing with observations based on monkeys and rodents), as well as, to a lesser extent, with Acre River local faunas and Madre de Dios (MD-67) in Brazil and Peru, respectively. The current results support the hypothesis that Western Amazonia was a single and consistent biogeographical region for land mammals over middle Miocene times, at the western edge of the Pebas Mega-Wetland System, and highlight the role of the Amazonian region concerning marsupial Neogene radiation. U-Pb analysis made on detrital zircon grains from TAR-31 gave a maximum depositional age of 17.4 ± 0.12 Ma (i.e., 4 Ma older than the biostratigraphical age), with a mixed detrital source likely comprising Precambrian (Western Amazon Craton), Neoproterozoic (Neoproterozoic mobile belts), and Phanerozoic rocks (Andes).

International audience; The Paleogene record of caviomorph rodents has substantially increased over the last decades, and their evolutionary history better understood by the discovery of their earliest representatives, so far recorded in several pre-Deseadan localities in Peruvian Amazonia. We report here the discovery of new caviomorph fossils from the Balsayacu area in Peru (TAR-55/TAR-55bis, TAR-76 and TAR-77 localities, San Martín Department). The study of this new material reveals the occurrence of four caviomorph taxa in these localities: Balsayacuy huallagaensis gen. et sp. nov., Chachapoyamys kathetos gen. et sp. nov. and Caviomorpha gen. et sp. indet. 1 and 2. It allows the revision and refinement of taxonomic assignments of previously described specimens. The first three taxa have a primitive dental pattern, as that characterizing stem Caviomorpha recorded in pre-Deseadan localities of Peru (Eocene localities of Contamana and ?late Eocene/early Oligocene Santa Rosa). We support here an Eocene age for the Balsayacu section due to the complete absence of morphologically derived taxa representing modern caviomorph superfamilies. By the presence of derived characters in Balsayacuy and Chachapoyamys compared to Canaanimys maquiensis and Cachiyacuy contamanensis from CTA-27 (Contamana, Peru; late middle Eocene), the Balsayacu section may document a time interval slightly younger than CTA-27 (which further yields Chachapoyamys cf. kathetos) and older than those of Santa Rosa and Tarapoto-Shapaja, likely documenting latest middle or early late Eocene times. These low-latitude stem caviomorph faunas provide new insights into the early evolutionary history and paleodiversity of that group immediately before the rise of modern superfamilies.

We report systematic conclusions based on critical analyses of previous taxon diagnoses and systematic revisions of the Early-Middle Pleistocene mesotheriine notoungulate Mesotherium cristatum, from Buenos Aires province, Argentina. Mesotherium cristatum is a key taxon, as it is the guide species of the Ensenadan Age (Early-Middle Pleistocene), it typifies the ‘Mesotherium cristatum Biozone’, and it is the last member of the Typotheria lineage. The taxonomic history and its successive revisions are especially complex due to the lack of recognition of the ontogenetic variation for this taxon, often considered as intergeneric variations (Typotherium, Typotheridion) or also as inter-specific variations (a total of seven different species have been named). In fact, the taxonomic complexity was increased due to misidentification with specimens or taxa originally defined in the late Pliocene (i.e. Monte Hermoso, Montehermosan SALMA). We conclude that the variation among the numerous purported Early-Middle Pleistocene mesotheriine taxa is consistent with intraspecific and ontogenetic variation in a single species, here recognised as M. cristatum. This puts an end to the supposed sympatry of two other species (Mesotherium maendrum and Typotherium pachygnatum) with M. cristatum and other species that have scarcely been considered (Typotherium angustirostrum and Bravardia pampaea). Accordingly, Mesotherium is a monotypic genus.

International audience; A palynological assemblage including the extinct araucarian dispersed pollen, Cyclusphaera scabrata, was analysed from the Achiri locality, Bolivian Altiplano. The fossil-yielding locality of Achiri is located in the Pacajes Province, La Paz Department, in the northwestern Altiplano, Bolivia. The Achiri locality is very well known by the fossil vertebrate faunas recovered from the Mauri Formation (M6). The palynological samples come from fine-grained and plant-rich lacustrine levels lower in the same unit. An age between late middle to early late Miocene? was inferred for the palynological association studied, based on local stratigraphy and radioisotopic ages obtained higher in the series. The retrieved association is mainly represented by angiosperms; although gymnosperms, bryophytes, ferns, and freshwater algae are also documented. Compositae are the most abundant group within angiosperms, and Polylepis also occurred but in low percentages. The presence of C. scabrata in the Bolivian Altiplano expands the taxon distribution outside northern South America and provides additional evidence to infer timing and distribution routes of conifers, restricted toward the tropics during the latest Neogene. Its occurrence supports a paleoelevation of no more than 2000 m for the northern area of the Altiplano in agreement with previous results. Compositae of Fenestrites type and Polylepis occur earlier in Bolivia and C. scabrata later, comparing their occurrence in miocene microfloras from low to mid-latitudes of South America.

Miocene deposits of South America have yielded several species-rich assemblages of caviomorph rodents. They are mostly situated at high and mid- latitudes of the continent, except for the exceptional Honda Group of La Venta, Colombia, the faunal composition of which allowed to describe the late middle Miocene Laventan South American Land Mammal Age (SALMA). In this paper, we describe a new caviomorph assemblage from TAR-31 locality, recently discovered near Tarapoto in Peruvian Amazonia (San Martín Department). Based on mammalian biostratigraphy, this single-phased locality is unambiguously considered to fall within the Laventan SALMA. TAR-31 yielded rodent species found in La Venta, such as the octodontoid Ricardomys longidens Walton, 1990 (nom. nud.), the chinchilloids Microscleromys paradoxalis Walton, 1990 (nom. nud.) and M. cribriphilus Walton, 1990 (nom. nud.), or closely-related taxa. Given these strong taxonomic affinities, we further seize the opportunity to review the rodent dental material from La Venta described in the Ph.D. volume of Walton in 1990 but referred to as nomina nuda. Here we validate the recognition of these former taxa and provide their formal description. TAR-31 documents nine distinct rodent species documenting the four extant superfamilies of Caviomorpha, including a new erethizontoid: Nuyuyomys chinqaska gen. et sp. nov. These fossils document the most diverse caviomorph fauna for the middle Miocene interval of Peruvian Amazonia to date. This rodent discovery from Peru extends the geographical ranges of Ricardomys longidens, Microscleromys paradoxalis, and M. cribriphilus, 1,100 km to the south. Only one postcranial element of rodent was unearthed in TAR-31 (astragalus). This tiny tarsal bone most likely documents one of the two species of Microscleromys and its morphology indicates terrestrial generalist adaptations for this minute chinchilloid.

Fil: Boscaini, Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivologia, Glaciologia y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivologia, Glaciologia y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivologia, Glaciologia y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina

Glossotherium phoenesis sp. nov. from the late Pleistocene of intertropical Brazil is described and compared with Glossotherium robustum and Glossotherium tropicorum. Compared to these two species,...

International audience; Extinct terrestrial sloths are common elements of the late Cenozoic South American fossil record. Among them, Mylodontinae species were particularly abundant in the Americas throughout the Pleistocene epoch, and their anatomy is relatively well known. In contrast, less information is available from the Neogene record and particularly from localities at low latitudes, with an additional and considerable bias in favor of craniodental rather than postcranial remains. In this contribution, we provide comparative descriptions of several postcranial bony elements ascribed to Simomylodon uccasamamensis, a moderatesized extinct mylodontine from the Andean Altiplano. This species was particularly abundant during latest Miocene–late Pliocene times in the high altitudes of the Andean Cordillera, and so far represents the best known mylodontine from the Neogene of South America. Its anatomy is compared with that of several extinct terrestrial sloths, with the aim of using the observed morphologies to elucidate taxonomy, phylogeny, and locomotion. From a morphofunctional perspective, the postcranium of S. uccasamamensis is consistent with that of a terrestrial graviportal quadruped, with moderate climbing and digging capabilities.

International audience; Since 2012, we have investigated a stratigraphic section encompassing the late Eocene–earliest Oligocene interval at Shapaja (Tarapoto area, Peruvian Amazonia, ca. 7°S), through paleontological and geological fieldwork. The measured sedimentary series (120 m-thick [West] plus 90 m-thick [East]), assigned to the upper member of the Pozo Formation, records fluvial micro-conglomeratic lenses intercalated with floodplain and evaporite-rich fine red deposits, estuarine/coastal-plain tidally-influenced fine sandstones, and oxbow lake nodule-rich blue clays. This sedimentary shift coincides locally with the demise of the large Eocene coastal-plain wetland known as Pozo System. The late Eocene–early Oligocene Shapaja section was extensively sampled for chemostratigraphy (δ13C on dispersed organic matter and pedogenic carbonate nodules), which in turn allowed for refining the location of the Eocene-Oligocene Transition (EOT) and other climatic events recognized at a global scale (i.e., Oi-1 and Oi-1a). The section has yielded nine fossil localities with plant remains (leaves, wood, charophytes, and palynomorphs), mollusks, decapods, and/or vertebrates (selachians, actinopterygians, lungfishes, amphibians, sauropsids, and mammals), documenting ~130 distinct taxa. Four localities of the upper member of the Pozo Formation at Shapaja predate the EOT, one is clearly within the EOT, while four are earliest/early Oligocene in age. The small leaf impressions found along the Shapaja section could be indicative of dry and/or seasonal conditions for this region throughout and after the EOT. Monkeys, indicative of tropical rainforest environments, are only recorded in a latest Eocene locality (TAR-21). Two biotic turnovers are perceptible in the selachian, metatherian, and rodent communities, well before the EOT [~35–36 Ma] and a few hundred thousand years after the EOT [~33 Ma]. The latter turnover seems to be primarily related to a global sea-level drop (ichthyofauna: marine-littoral elements replaced by obligate freshwater taxa) and/or the onset of a drier and more seasonal climate in early Oligocene times (terrestrial components). Changes in the structure of the Shapaja paleocommunities were mostly driven by the flexural subsidence during the late Eocene, and then globally driven by the earliest Oligocene climatic deterioration.

The vertebrate fossil record of the Pampean Region of Argentina occupies an important place in South American vertebrate paleontology. An abundance of localities has long been the main basis for constructing the chronostratigraphical/geochronological scale for the late Neogene–Quaternary of South America, as well as for understanding major patterns of vertebrate evolution, including the Great American Biotic Interchange. However, few independently-derived dates are available for constraining this record. In this contribution, we present new 40Ar/39Ar dates on escorias (likely the product of meteoric impacts) from the Argentinean Atlantic coast and statistically-based biochronological analyses that help to calibrate Late Miocene–Pliocene Pampean faunal successions. For the type areas of the Montehermosan and Chapadmalalan Ages/Stages, our results delimit their age ranges to 4.7–3.7 Ma and ca. 3.74–3.04 Ma, respectively. Additionally, from Buenos Aires Province, dates of 5.17 Ma and 4.33 Ma were recovered for “Huayquerian” and Montehermosan faunas. This information helps to better calibrate important first appearances of allochthonous taxa in South America, including one of the oldest records for procyonids (7.24–5.95 Ma), cricetids (6.95–5.46 Ma), and tayassuids (> 3.74 Ma, oldest high-confidence record). These results also constrain to ca. 3 Ma the last appearances of the autochthonous sparassodonts, as well as terror birds of large/middle body size in South America. South American faunal turnover during the late Neogene, including Late Pliocene extinctions, is interpreted as a consequence of knock-on effects from global climatic changes and initiation of the icehouse climate regime. Fil: Prevosti, Francisco Juan. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Rioja. Secretaria de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina Fil: Romano Muñoz, Cristo Omar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Forasiepi, Analia Marta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Hemming, Sidney. Columbia University; Estados Unidos Fil: Bonini, Ricardo Adolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tandil. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Investigaciones Arqueológicas y Paleontológicas del Cuaternario Pampeano; Argentina Fil: Candela, Adriana Magdalena. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleontología Vertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina Fil: Cerdeño Serrano, Maria Esperanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Madozzo Jaén, María Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Departamento de Geología. Cátedra Geología Estructural. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica; Argentina. Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio; Argentina Fil: Ortiz, Pablo Edmundo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Departamento de Geología. Cátedra Geología Estructural. Instituto Superior de Correlación Geológica; Argentina Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Rasia, Luciano Luis. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleontología Vertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina Fil: Schmidt, Gabriela Ines. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentina Fil: Taglioretti, Matias Luciano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario; Argentina. Litoral Atlántico Norte. Observatorio Patrimonio Arqueológico y Paleontológico; Argentina Fil: Macphee, Ross Douglas Earle. American Museum of Natural History; Estados Unidos Fil: Pardiñas, Ulises Francisco J.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto de Diversidad y Evolución Austral; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad; Ecuador

International audience; The West Indies are a natural laboratory for the study of biogeography and evolution, especially for mammals. The modality of their arrival in the Caribbean islands is a highly controversial issue, and palaeontological evidence remains particularly elusive. Lower Oligocene deposits of Puerto Rico (c. 29.5 Ma) have recently yielded the oldest archipelago rodents, with teeth of two chinchilloid caviomorphs of South American origin. Here we report the discovery of additional dental remains from the same level, testifying to the occurrence of another rodent group. Their morphology is singular but otherwise characteristic of North/Central American geomyin geomorphs (including extant kangaroo rats, pocket mice, and pocket gophers), and leads us to propose here a new taxon: Caribeomys merzeraudi gen. et sp. nov. The evidence of geomorphs in the West Indies challenges the view that all extinct and extant Antillean rodents derived from South American sources. The morphological singularity of this Puerto Rican geomorph also suggests an early split of this insular lineage from coeval mainland counterparts, and its dispersal towards the West Indies sometime around the Eocene–Oligocene transition. This unexpected rodent adds to the few cases of Antillean terrestrial vertebrates of North American origins, such as solenodonotan eulipotyphlans. In the absence of subaerial land connections between both landmasses, an overwater dispersal may explain mid-Palaeogene colonization of the West Indies by geomorph rodents.

International audience; The Honda Group of La Venta, Colombia, has yielded a wide array of crown platyrrhine primates, documenting the late Middle Miocene epoch (ca. 13.1–12.6 Ma, Laventan South American Land Mammal Age). Although exceptional, this record represents only a snapshot of the evolutionary history of New World monkeys because virtually none of the primate taxa recorded at La Venta had so far been found elsewhere. We describe here few dental remains of a cebine platyrrhine discovered from Laventan deposits in the San Martín Department of Peru (Peruvian Amazonia). The primate dental specimens from that new fossil-bearing locality (TAR-31) are strongly reminiscent morphologically of the teeth of Neosaimiri fieldsi from La Venta. However, given that several aspects of the dental variability from TAR-31 are unknown, we prefer to provide an assignment with open nomenclature (i.e., Neosaimiri cf. fieldsi), instead of formally referring these remains to N. fieldsi, pending the discovery of additional specimens. The occurrence of Neosaimiri in Peru, in coeval deposits of La Venta, thus represents a second and southernmost record of that low-latitude genus in the Neotropics, thereby demonstrating its wide distribution along the northwestern edge of the Pebas Mega-Wetland System, in tropical western South America.

Extinct scelidotheriine sloths are among the most peculiar fossil mammals from South America. In recent decades, the external cranial anatomy of Pleistocene scelidotheres such as Scelidotherium, Catonyx, and Valgipes has been the subject of numerous studies, but their endocranial anatomy remains almost completely unknown. Today, computed tomographic (CT) scanning methodologies permit the exploration of previously inaccessible anatomical areas through a completely non-destructive process. For this reason, we undertook an analysis of the external and internal cranial anatomy of Catonyx tarijensis from the late Pleistocene of the Department of Oruro, in southwestern Bolivia. One particularly well-preserved specimen allowed detailed observation of all the main cranial osteological features, including the ear region and an almost complete hyoid apparatus, previously unknown for this taxon. Moreover, CT-scanning and subsequent elaboration of digital models of this specimen allowed observation of the brain cavity and cranial sinuses, and reconstruction of the trajectory of the main cranial nerves for the first time in an extinct scelidotheriine sloth. Additionally, we recovered the first three-dimensional reconstructions of the nasal cavity and the turbinates of an extinct sloth. In contrast to the usual depiction, the combined information from the external and internal anatomy suggests reduced lingual protrusion in Catonyx tarijensis, or at least a consistently more limited protrusion of the tongue in comparison with other mylodontid sloths such as Glossotherium robustum. The new morphological information recovered from this extinct sloth is compared with the available information for both extant and extinct forms, providing insights in the paleobiology of the extinct species. The present study reveals the importance of applying these novel non-destructive techniques to elucidate the evolutionary history of sloths. Fil: Boscaini, Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Iurino, Dawid A.. Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Italia Fil: Mamani Quispe, Bernardino. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de la Paz; Bolivia Fil: Andrade Flores, Rubén. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de la Paz; Bolivia Fil: Sardella, Raffaele. Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Italia Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Gaudin, Timothy. University Of Tennessee At Chattanooga; Estados Unidos

International audience; Fossil remains of extinct terrestrial sloths have been discovered in numerous localities throughout the Americas, but knowledge of these animals remains poor in the tropical latitudes in comparison with the austral ones. Even where Pliocene mylodontine sloths are known from North and South America, well-preserved craniodental remains are extremely rare, hindering reliable assessment of their taxonomic assignment and phylogenetic affinities. Here, new craniodental remains of Simomylodon uccasamamensis, from the latest Miocene–Pliocene of the Bolivian Altiplano, are described and compared with those of other Neogene Mylodontinae from South and North America. The resulting morphological observations, combined with morphometric analyses, permit reliable differentiation among these moderate-sized Miocene–Pliocene mylodontids. Simomylodon uccasamamensis appears to be the smallest Pliocene mylodontine, and it is closely related phylogenetically to the late Miocene species Pleurolestodon acutidens. Simomylodon uccasamamensis is also an endemic taxon of the Andean highlands during the Pliocene, with a continuous chronological range extending throughout the Montehermosan, Chapdamalalan and (early) Marplatan South American Land Mammal Ages. This terrestrial sloth may have found its ideal ecological conditions in the Bolivian Altiplano, during a span of time falling between the important South American Late Miocene–Pliocene faunal turnover and the Great American Biotic Interchange around the Pliocene–Pleistocene transition.

The internal cranial morphology of the terrestrial sloth Glossotherium robustum is described here based on a neurocranium from the late Pleistocene of the Pampean region of Buenos Aires, northeastern Argentina. The first published data on the morphology of the brain cavity of this species date back to the latest nineteenth century. The novel techniques of CT scanning and digital reconstructions enable non-destructive access to the internal cranial features of both extinct and extant vertebrates, and thus improve our knowledge of anatomical features that had previously remained obscure. Therefore, we performed CT scans on the posterior half of a skull of G. robustum and created digital models of the endocasts and internal structures. The results reveal the morphology of the brain cavity itself, as well as the paranasal sinuses and the trajectory of several cranial nerves and blood vessels. These features have been compared with the two extant folivoran genera, the two-toed sloth Choloepus and the three-toed sloth Bradypus. For many characteristics, especially those related to the paranasal pneumaticity and the brain cavity, a closer similarity between Glossotherium and Choloepus is observed, in accordance with the most widely accepted phylogenetic scenarios. However, other features are only shared by the two extant genera, but are probably related to allometric effects and the convergence that affected the two modern lineages. This study, which represents the first exhaustive analysis of digital endocasts of a fossil sloth, reveals the importance of the application of new methodologies, such as CT scans, for elucidating the evolutionary history of this peculiar mammalian clade. Fil: Boscaini, Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Iurino, Dawid A.. Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Italia Fil: Sardella, Raffaele. Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Italia Fil: Tirao, German Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina Fil: Gaudin, Timothy. University of Tennessee; Estados Unidos Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina

New mylodontine (Xenarthra, Pilosa) sloth remains from the late Pleistocene tar seep localities of Corralito (Ecuador) and Talara (Peru) are described, and the taxonomic history of the extinct ground sloth genus Glossotherium is reviewed. Based on the new material and comparisons with Glossotherium robustum, Glossotherium wegneri, and the North American taxon, Paramylodon harlani, the species Glossotherium tropicorum is considered to be valid and a new definition of its diagnostic characters is provided. Glossotherium tropicorum is similar in size to Glossotherium robustum and Glossotherium wegneri but differs in several respects from these species, such as having a more elongated and slender skull. In this respect it more closely resembles Paramylodon harlani in North America, which is also similar in size. Glossotherium tropicorum is one of two mylodontine sloths found in the upper Pleistocene of north-western South America, the other being Glossotherium wegneri. While both are present in this region their individual distributions did not overlap and the two species have not been recovered together in a fauna. The distribution of Glossotherium tropicorum is restricted to lowland coastal areas whereas Glossotherium wegneri is found inland and in the highland areas of the Andes, suggesting significant differences in their ecology. Fil: De Iuliis, Gerardo. University of Toronto; Canadá. Royal Ontario Museum; Canadá Fil: Cartelle, Cástor. PUC Minas; Brasil Fil: McDonald, H. Gregory. Utah State Office; Eslovaquia Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina

The late Pleistocene mylodontine sloth Glossotherium wegneri (Spillmann, 1931) (Interandean ­region, Ecuador) has been assigned to Glossotherium Owen, 1839 and Oreomylodon Hoffstetter, 1949 (the latter ranked as a subgenus or genus), and synonymized with G. robustum (Owen, 1842). However, the phylogenetic and comparative analyses conducted here, which include previously undescribed remains, strongly suggest specific distinction for G. wegneri and that there is little, if any, support for generic or subgeneric distinction for Oreomylodon. Among the notable features of this species are the ­presence of an internasal element, marked expansion of the rostrum anteriorly, and dorsoventrally and the palatal region transversely, increased separation of the caniniform tooth from the anterior edge of maxilla, increased relative braincase width, relatively enlarged hypoglossal foramen, and greatly elongated zygomatic process of the squamosal. The resulting single MPT recovered a monophyletic Glossotherium, with the following phylogenetic arrangement of the species of this genus (G. robustum + ((G. wegneri + G. tropicorum Hoffstetter, 1952) + (G. phoenesis Cartelle, De Iuliis, Boscaini & Pujos, 2019 + G. tarijense Ameghino, 1902))).

By their past and present diversity, rodents are among the richest components of Caribbean land mammals. Many of these became extinct recently. Causes of their extirpation, their phylogenetic affinities, the timing of their arrival in the West Indies and their biogeographic history are all ongoing debated issues. Here, we report the discovery of dental remains from Lower Oligocene deposits (ca29.5 Ma) of Puerto Rico. Their morphology attests to the presence of two distinct species of chinchilloid caviomorphs, closely related to dinomyids in a phylogenetic analysis, and thus of undisputable South American origin. These fossils represent the earliest Caribbean rodents known thus far. They could extend back to 30 Ma the lineages of some recently extinct Caribbean giant rodents (ElasmodontomysandAmblyrhiza), which are also retrieved here as chinchilloids. This new find has substantial biogeographic implications because it demonstrates an early dispersal of land mammals from South America to the West Indies, perhaps via the emergence of the Aves Ridge that occurredca35–33 Ma (GAARlandia hypothesis). Considering both this new palaeontological evidence and recent molecular divergence estimates, the natural colonization of the West Indies by rodents probably occurred through multiple and time-staggered dispersal events (chinchilloids, then echimyid octodontoids (spiny rats/hutias), caviids and lastly oryzomyin muroids (rice rats)).

Pronothrotherium typicum is a late Miocene–early Pliocene (Huayquerian–Chapadmalalan SALMA) nothrotheriid sloth known from the Catamarca Province of northwestern Argentina. Pronothrotherium is one of four nothrotheriid genera known from relatively complete skeletal material, but unlike the other three, the osteology of Pronothrotherium has not been formally described. The present study provides the first detailed description and illustration of the cranial anatomy of Pronothrotherium, based largely on a nearly complete, subadult skull of P. typicum from the collections of The Field Museum (Chicago, Illinois, USA), as well as a less well-preserved adult skull and isolated mandible from the same collections. A revised cranial diagnosis of P. typicum is provided in the text. The skull of this species shows a number of distinctive features, most notably a peculiar vomerine keel in the nasopharynx, terminating in a swollen knob, that is, as far we know, a unique morphology among mammals. Based on the results of the present study, there appears to be reason to recognize two contemporaneous species of Pronothrotherium, P. typicum and P. mirabilis, although the latter is less well supported. We do not accept the validity of a third described species, P. figueirasi, considering it instead to be synonymous with P. mirabilis. The present study does not resolve the uncertain phylogenetic relationships among the well-preserved nothrotheriine taxa Pronothrotherium, Mionothropus (late Miocene), and the two Pleistocene genera in Nothrotheriini, Nothrotherium and Nothrotheriops. However, we hope that the data provided will facilitate subsequent phylogenetic studies that may resolve these issues.

Sexual dimorphism (SD) is extremely common in species that have reproductive roles segregated into separate sexes, and it has been recognized in several mammalian lineages, both extant and extinct. Sexual dimorphism is low to moderate in living sloths, but it had a more important role for extinct sloth taxa. The presence of SD in extinct sloths was first suggested at the end of the 19th century and it is now commonly advocated as a possible explanation of high intraspecific variation in many extinct sloth species. In this paper, we report the presence of SD in Simomylodon uccasamamensis, a Late Miocene to Late Pliocene sloth from the Bolivian Altiplano. We present evidence of SD in the morphology of cranial and postcranial remains, representing the earliest unequivocal occurrence of size-based SD in an extinct sloth species. Differences between sexes are mainly observed in the morphology of the feeding apparatus and general body size. Comparisons with extant large mammals allow us to hypothesize different food selection between the two sexes, with probable divergent habitat use and concomitant niche separation. This, in turn, could have represented an important selective factor for adaptation to environmental changes experienced by the Bolivian Altiplano in Late Neogene times.

The living tree sloths Choloepus and Bradypus are the only remaining members of Folivora, a major xenarthran radiation that occupied a wide range of habitats in many parts of the western hemisphere during the Cenozoic, including both continents and the West Indies. Ancient DNA evidence has played only a minor role in folivoran systematics, as most sloths lived in places not conducive to genomic preservation. Here we utilize collagen sequence information, both separately and in combination with published mitochondrial DNA evidence, to assess the relationships of tree sloths and their extinct relatives. Results from phylogenetic analysis of these datasets differ substantially from morphology-based concepts: Choloepus groups with Mylodontidae, not Megalonychidae; Bradypus and Megalonyx pair together as megatherioids, while monophyletic Antillean sloths may be sister to all other folivorans. Divergence estimates are consistent with fossil evidence for mid-Cenozoic presence of sloths in the West Indies and an early Miocene radiation in South America., Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo

Objectives: Undoubted fossil Cebidae have so far been primarily documented from the late middle Miocene of Colombia, the late Miocene of Brazilian Amazonia, the early Miocene of Peruvian Amazonia, and very recently from the earliest Miocene of Panama. The evolutionary history of cebids is far from being well-documented, with notably a complete blank in the record of callitrichine stem lineages until and after the late middle Miocene (Laventan SALMA). Further documenting their evolutionary history is therefore of primary importance. Material: Recent field efforts in Peruvian Amazonia (Contamana area, Loreto Department) have allowed for the discovery of an early late Miocene (ca. 11 Ma; Mayoan SALMA) fossil primatebearing locality (CTA-43; Pebas Formation). In this study, we analyze the primate material, which consists of five isolated teeth documenting two distinct Cebidae: Cebus sp., a medium-sized capuchin (Cebinae), and Cebuella sp., a tiny marmoset (Callitrichinae). Results: Although limited, this new fossil material of platyrrhines contributes to documenting the post-Laventan evolutionary history of cebids, and besides testifies to the earliest occurrences of the modern Cebuella and Cebus/Sapajus lineages in the Neotropics. Regarding the evolutionary history of callitrichine marmosets, the discovery of an 11 Ma-old fossil representative of the modern Cebuella pushes back by at least 6 Ma the age of the Mico/Cebuella divergence currently proposed by molecular biologists (i.e., ca. 4.5 Ma). This also extends back to>11 Ma BP the divergence between Callithrix and the common ancestor (CA) of Mico/Cebuella, as well as the divergence between the CA of marmosets and Callimico (Goeldi’s callitrichine). Discussion: This discovery from Peruvian Amazonia implies a deep evolutionary root of the Cebuella lineage in the northwestern part of South America (the modern western Amazon basin), slightly before the recession of the Pebas mega-wetland system (PMWS), ca. 10.5 Ma, and wellbefore the subsequent establishment of the Amazon drainage system (ca. 9–7 Ma). During the late middle/early late Miocene interval, the PMWS was seemingly not a limiting factor for dispersals and widespread distribution of terrestrial mammals, but it was also likely a source of diversification via a complex patchwork of submerged/emerged lands varying through time.

Modern sloths are among the more characteristic mammals of South and Central American faunas. Recent discovery in four Paleogene, 22 Neogene, and dozens of Pleistocene fossiliferous localities in the tropics has revealed an unexpected paleobioversity constituted by some 81 fossil sloth species. Probably originating in southern South America near the Eocene/Oligocene transition, sloths were represented in the tropics during the late Oligocene by Pseudoglyptodon, Mylodontidae, and Megalonychidae. The latter occupied the West Indies between at least the late early Miocene and late Pleistocene, and two mylodontid clades, Octodontobradyinae and Urumacotheriinae, were characteristic of Amazonian localities from the Colhuehuapian and the Laventan periods, respectively, until the end of the Miocene. Megatheriinae and Nothrotheriidae appeared during the middle Miocene, colonizing the tropics and then North America, where Mylodontidae and Megalonychidae had already been present since the early late Miocene. Nothrotheriids are more abundant and diversified during the late Miocene in the tropics than in southern South America. Remains closely related to either of the modern sloths are absent from the fossil record, including those in the tropics. The characteristic suspensory posture of Bradypus and Choloepus appeared independently and likely after the Miocene epoch, and thus well after the hypothesized split suggested by molecular studies of the respective clades of these genera. Given their current widespread distribution in and reliance on the tropics, prospecting efforts for the direct fossil kin of suspensory sloths should concentrate on deposits in the Amazonian region, as this area has shown promise in producing fossil sloths. Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: De Iuliis, G.. University of Toronto; Canadá. Royal Ontario Museum; Canadá Fil: Cartelle, C.. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais ; Brasil

A state-of-the-art review of the Cenozoic fossil record from Western Amazonia is provided, based on literature and new data (regarding Paleogene native ungulates). It allows summarizing the evolution and dynamics of middle Eocene–Holocene mammalian guilds, at the level of species, families, and orders. Major gaps in the Western Amazonian mammal record occur in the pre-Lutetian and early Miocene intervals, and in the Pliocene epoch. Twenty-three orders, 89 families, and 320 species are recognized in the fossil record, widely dominated by eutherians from the middle Eocene onward. Probable Allotheria (Gondwanatheria) occur only in the earliest interval, whereas Metatheria and Eutheria are conspicuous components of any assemblage. Taxonomic diversity was probably fairly constant at the ordinal level (~12–14 orders in each time slice considered) and much more variable in terms of family and species richness: if most intervals are characterized by 40–50 co-occurring species and 19–31 co-occurring families, the early Miocene period illustrates a depauperate fauna (21 species, 17 families), strongly contrasting with the late Miocene climactic guild (82 species, 38 families). Recent mammalian taxonomic diversity from Western Amazonia (12 orders, 37 families, and 286 species) is at odds with all past intervals, as it encompasses only three orders of South American origin (Didelphimorphia, Cingulata, and Pilosa) but four North American immigrant orders (Artiodactyla, Perissodactyla, Carnivora, and Lagomorpha). In terms of taxonomic diversity, recent mammalian guilds are fully dominated by small-sized taxa (Chiroptera, Rodentia, and Primates). This overview also confirms the scarcity of large mammalian flesh-eaters in ancient Neotropical mammalian assemblages. The pattern and the timing of mammalian dispersals from northern landmasses into Western Amazonia are not elucidated yet. Fil: Antoine, Pierre Olivier. Université de Montpellier; Francia Fil: Salas Gismondi, Rodolfo. Université de Montpellier; Francia. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Ganerød, Morgan. Geological Survey of Norway; Noruega Fil: Marivaux, Laurent. Université de Montpellier; Francia

Weprovide a synopsis of ~60million years of life history in Neotropical lowlands, based on a comprehensive survey of the Cenozoic deposits along the Quebrada Cachiyacu near Contamana in PeruvianAmazonia. The 34 fossilbearing localities identified have yielded a diversity of fossil remains, including vertebrates,mollusks, arthropods, plant fossils, and microorganisms, ranging from the early Paleocene to the lateMiocene–?Pliocene (N20 successive levels). This Cenozoic series includes the base of the Huchpayacu Formation (Fm.; early Paleocene; lacustrine/ fluvial environments; charophyte-dominated assemblage), the Pozo Fm. (middle + ?late Eocene; marine then freshwater environments; most diversified biomes), and complete sections for the Chambira Fm. (late Oligocene–late early Miocene; freshwater environments; vertebrate-dominated faunas), the Pebas Fm. (late early to early late Miocene; freshwater environments with an increasing marine influence; excellent fossil record), and Ipururo Fm. (late Miocene–?Pliocene; fully fluvial environments; virtually no fossils preserved). At least 485 fossil species are recognized in the Contamana area (~250 ‘plants’, ~212 animals, and 23 foraminifera). Based on taxonomic lists from each stratigraphic interval, high-level taxonomic diversity remained fairly constant throughout themiddle Eocene–Miocene interval (8-12 classes), ordinal diversity fluctuated to a greater degree, and family/species diversity generally declined, with a drastic drop in the early Miocene. The Paleocene–?Pliocene fossil assemblages from Contamana attest at least to four biogeographic histories inherited from (i) Mesozoic Gondwanan times, (ii) the Panamerican realm prior to (iii) the time of South America’s Cenozoic “splendid isolation”, and (iv) Neotropical ecosystems in the Americas. No direct evidence of any North American terrestrial immigrant has yet been recognized in the Miocene record at Contamana., Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo

Thirteen million years ago in South America, the Pebas Mega-Wetland System sheltered multi-taxon crocodylian assemblages, with the giant caiman Purussaurus as the top predator. In these Miocene swamps where reptiles and mammals coexisted, evidence of their agonistic interactions is extremely rare. Here, we report a tibia of the mylodontid sloth Pseudoprepotherium bearing 46 predation tooth marks. The combination of round and bisected, shallow pits and large punctures that collapsed extensive portions of cortical bone points to a young or sub-adult Purussaurus (approx. 4 m in total length) as the perpetrator. Other known crocodylians of the Pebas Systemwere either too small at adulthood or had discordant feeding anatomy to be considered. The pattern of tooth marks suggests that the perpetrator attacked and captured the ground sloth from the lower hind limb, yet an attempt of dismembering cannot be ruled out. This discovery from the Peruvian Amazonia provides an unusual snapshot of the dietary preferences of Purussaurus andreveals that prior to reaching its giant size, young individuals might have fed upon terrestrial mammals of about the size of a capybara. Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Salas Gismondi, Rodolfo. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú

We report a partial adult skeleton of the notoungulate mesotheriid Plesiotypotherium achirense, showing multiple skeletal and dental pathologies, from the late Miocene locality of Achiri, Bolivian Altiplano. The material shows bilateral absence of hypselodont permanent molars, further associated with exostosis on various limb bones. The main pathology relates with the loss of two first molars on both sides of the jaw, perhaps due to long-lasting periodontal diseases. Other craniomandibular afflictions, likely related to the latter pathology, are an overgrowth of two first upper molars on both sides and the anomalous development of masticatory muscle insertions (m. masseter, pterygoideus medialis, temporalis, and temporalis pars profundis). A hypothetical pathological sequence of the masticatory apparatus was reconstructed according to distinctive wear of ever-growing crowns of two first upper molars and the unequal lower alveoli reabsorption. Additional pathologies are exostoses observed on several articular surfaces of limb bones, from the scapula to distal phalanges. They likely decreased the range of movements during locomotion of this individual. Given its multiple pathologies, we might have expected this abnormal individual to be a potential easy prey. However, the long-time survival of this animal suggests a low predatory pressure, a hypothesis that is consistent with the virtual absence of carnivorous vertebrates in the Achiri fossil assemblage and the composition of coeval mammalian guilds in the Bolivian Altiplano and/or a herd behaviour for Plesiotypotherium achirense, as seen in many modern grazing herbivore ungulates. Fil: Fernández Monescillo, Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Antoine, Pierre Olivier. Université Montpellier II; Francia Fil: Mamani Quispe, Bernardino. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural; Bolivia Fil: Münch, Philippe. Université Montpellier II; Francia Fil: Flores, Rubén Andrade. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural; Bolivia Fil: Marivaux, Laurent. Université Montpellier II; Francia Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina

In the present work, we provide muscular reconstruction and we infer functional properties of the forelimb of Plesiotypotherium achirense, a fossil mesotheriid notoungulate from the late Miocene of Achiri (Bolivia). This locality has yielded the widest sample ever available for the forelimb of a mesotheriid. In addition, we propose a qualitative comparison of the forelimb (osteology and myology) at the family level, including the Miocene–Pleistocene mesotheriines Mesotherium cristatum, Plesiotypotherium achirense, Caraguatypotherium munozi, Plesiotypotherium casirense, and Pseudotypotherium sp, and the late Oligocene trachytheriine Trachytherus alloxus. Functional properties are consistent with a digging ability and a “scratch-digger” lifestyle for Mesotheriidae. In general, there are only slight differences among the comparison sample, except for Mesotherium cristatum, which reflect significant osteological modifications, likely to help increasing the moment arm while scratch-digging. These features are mainly observable on scapulae (distal border caudally displaced) and humeri (deltoid crest distally oriented and crista supracondylaris lateralis laterally projected). Fil: Fernández Monescillo, Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Mamani Quispe, B.. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural; Bolivia Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Antoine, Pierre Olivier. Université de Montpellier; Francia

New, exceptionally well preserved skulls of the basal megalonychid ground sloth Eucholoeops ingens Ameghino have been recovered through recent field work in the late early Miocene Santa Cruz Formation of southern Argentina (Patagonia, Santacrucian SALMA). These specimens have permitted detailed description of the anatomy of the basicranium, endocranium, and orbital wall, including descriptions of the morphology and sutural relationships of the bones from this portion of the skull, and their associated cranial foramina. Comparisons are made to other megalonychid and megatherioid sloths, including the extant two-toed sloth Choloepus Illiger (Megalonychidae). As the descriptions are based on multiple specimens of E. ingens, we have been able to examine intraspecific variation in the features described, and have found marked differences among individual specimens in sutural patterns (e.g., the bones that surround the foramen ovale aperture), cranial foramina (e.g., the presence/absence of a postglen...

The rodent record during the late Eocene - early Oligocene interval is poorly known in South America. Our team's recent fieldwork in Peruvian Amazonia allowed for the discovery of five new fossil-bearing localities in a single stratigraphic section at Shapaja (Tarapoto area, San Martín Department), considered as early Oligocene by mammalian biostratigraphy. Here, we describe the caviomorph material from Shapaja, which documents 17 distinct taxa (with the co-occurrence of four to seven caviomorph taxa in a single level) representing at least three of the four extant superfamilies. Eight taxa are new to science: Kichkasteiromys raimondii nov. gen. et sp. and Shapajamys labocensis nov. gen. et sp. (Erethizontoidea), Selvamys paulus nov. gen. et sp. and Mayomys confluens nov. gen. et sp. (Octodontoidea), Eoincamys valverdei nov. sp. and E. parvus nov. sp. (?Chinchilloidea), and Tarapotomys subandinus nov. gen. et sp. and T. mayoensis nov. gen. et sp. (superfamily indet.). These diversified caviomorph faunas constitute the most equatorial Paleogene record of this group. The taxa from Shapaja are not documented in other low-, mid- and high-latitudes Paleogene localities, except for Eoincamys. This genus is otherwise only found at Santa Rosa (Peruvian Amazonia, ?late Eocene/early Oligocene), thereby indicating a close temporal window for the Shapaja localities. Fil: Boivin, Myriam. Université de Montpellier; Francia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Marivaux, Laurent. Université de Montpellier; Francia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Salas Gismondi, Rodolfo. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Tejada Lara, Julia V.. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Varas Malca, Rafael M.. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú. American Museum of Natural History; Estados Unidos Fil: Antoine, Pierre Olivier. Université de Montpellier; Francia

Recent reports (Faure et al., 2014; Guérin and Faure, 2000, 2008) describe the existence, in intertropical Brazil, of a small (“dwarf”) megatheriine sloth, Eremotherium laurillardi (Lund, 1842), and a giant-sized megatheriine, Eremotherium rusconii (Schaub, 1935). This view is in marked contrast to that advanced by Cartelle and De Iuliis (1995, 2006), who demonstrated the presence of a single Late Pleistocene giant Eremotherium species, for which the valid name is Eremotherium laurillardi (Lund, 1842), in intertropical Brazil and elsewhere in America. These authors dubbed this species the Panamerican giant ground sloth. The present contribution reviews the material discussed by Faure et al. (2014) and demonstrates that it belongs to a juvenile (as did the material from Guérin and Faure, 2000) of the Panamerican giant ground sloth (i.e., E. laurillardi sensu Cartelle and De Iuliis, 1995, 2006) and that there is no evidence of a dwarf megatheriine in the Late Pleistocene of intertropical Brazil. Plusieurs études récentes (Faure et al., 2014 ; Guérin et Faure, 2000, 2008) signalent l’existence, dans la région intertropicale du Brésil, d’un paresseux mégathère « nain », Eremotherium laurillardi (Lund, 1842), ainsi que d’un mégathère géant, Eremotherium rusconii (Schaub, 1935). Ce point de vue diffère de celui avancé par Cartelle et De Iuliis (1995, 2006), qui démontrent l’existence d’une seule espèce, Eremotherium laurillardi (Lund, 1842) durant la fin du Pléistocène, rencontrée dans la région intertropicale du Brésil et plus généralement en Amérique. Ces derniers auteurs surnomment cette espèce le paresseux géant panaméricain. La présente contribution correspond à une révision du matériel examiné par Faure et al. (2014) tendant à montrer que ce fossile appartient à un spécimen juvénile (tout comme le matériel présenté par Guérin et Faure, 2000) du paresseux géant panaméricain (i.e. E. laurillardi sensu Cartelle et De Iuliis, 1995, 2006) et qu’aucun indice de l’existence d’un mégathère nain n’est à ce jour disponible durant la fin du Pléistocène dans la région intertropicale brésilienne. Fil: Cartelle, Cástor. Pontificia Universidad Catolica Do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil Fil: De Iuliis, Gerardo. University of Toronto; Canadá. Royal Ontario Museum; Canadá Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina. Instituto Francés de Estudios Andinos; Perú

International audience; Among the ichthyofaunal remains collected in the Tertiary deposits of Peruvian Amazonia,elasmobranchs show an unexpected richness of rays, consisting primarily of mostly potamotrygonins(river stingrays), but also pristids (sawfishes) and rhinopterids (cownose rays). Among thePotamotrygoninae subfamily and in addition to the middle Eocene Potamotrygon ucayalensis foundin oldest levels, three new fossil species of Potamotrygon, namely P. contamanensis nov. sp.,P. canaanorum nov. sp., and P. rajachloeae nov. sp. are described from late Oligocene-late Miocenedeposits along the Quebrada Cachiyacu, near Contamana, Peru. These new fossils fill a substantial gap inthe sporadic fossil record of this exclusive freshwater elasmobranch subfamily, native to South America,thereby highlighting their ancient biological and ecological diversity. In the absence of sharks, theoccurrence of obligate freshwater potamotrygonins, along with additional marine to brackish batoidsfrom nine successive fossiliferous levels, supports the predominance of fluvio-lacustrine environmentsin that region throughout the considered period, with a peak of marine influence around the middle-lateMiocene transition, as recorded in other areas of Western Amazonia.

We provide morphological, quantitative, and qualitative studies of cranial endocasts of mesotheriid notoungulates solving previous open debate on notoungulate endocasts. For that purpose, we use the most accurate digital reconstructions methods. We confirm that mesotheriids have endocasts similar in shape and gyrification to those of other rodent-like notoungulates (i.e., Hegetotheriidae and Interatheriidae) and living cavy rodents (e.g., Dolicavia minuscula, Hydrochoerus, and Cavia). We identify these similarities as evolutionary response to potentially similar ecological constraints. Based on the encephalization quotient (EQ) of several notoungulate families (i.e., Mesotheriidae, Interatheriidae, Notohippidae, Toxodontiidae, and Hegetotheriidae), there seems to be no increase in terms of EQ or neocortical complexity through time in that group. In addition, comparison with several Holarctic ‘euungulates’ leads us to propose differential predation pressure as a potential driver for EQ. Among notoungulates, braincase comparison between well-known Oligocene–Pleistocene mesotheriids and other families identifies lifestyle as an additional possible driver for EQ, with lower values for semifossorial taxa, in a similar way to rodents. Finally, the observed stability of mesotheriid EQ (from the Oligocene to the Pliocene) would match a conservative lifestyle further reflected by their highly invariant appendicular skeleton. Fil: Fernández Monescillo, Marcos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Antoine, Pierre Olivier. Université de Montpellier; Francia Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Gomes Rodrigues, Helder. Universite de Paris; Francia. Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle; Francia Fil: Mamani Quispe, Bernardino. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural; Bolivia Fil: Orliac, Maeva. Université de Montpellier; Francia

Several detailed studies of the external morphology of the ear region in extinct sloths have been published in the past few decades, and this anatomical region has proved extremely helpful in elucidating the phylogenetic relationships among the members of this mammalian clade. Few studies of the inner ear anatomy in these peculiar animals were conducted historically, but these are increasing in number in recent years, in both the extinct and extant representatives, due to wider access to CT-scanning facilities, which allow non-destructive access to internal morphologies. In the present study, we analyze the extinct ground sloth Glossotherium robustum and provide a description of the external features of the ear region and the endocranial side of the petrosal bone, coupled with the first data on the anatomy of the bony labyrinth. Some features observable in the ear region of G. robustum (e.g., the shape and size of the entotympanic bone and the morphology of the posteromedial surface of the petrosal) are highly variable, both intraspecifically and intraindividually. The form of the bony labyrinth of G. robustum is also described, providing the first data from this anatomical region for the family Mylodontidae. The anatomy of the bony labyrinth of the genus Glossotherium is here compared at the level of the superorder Xenarthra, including all available extant and extinct representatives, using geometric morphometric methods. In light of the new data, we discuss the evolution of inner ear anatomy in the xenarthran clade, and most particularly in sloths, considering the influence of phylogeny, allometry, and physiology on the shape of this highly informative region of the skull. These analyses show that the inner ear of Glossotherium more closely resembles that of the extant anteaters, and to a lesser extent those of the giant ground sloth Megatherium and euphractine armadillos, than those of the extant sloths Bradypus and Choloepus, further demonstrating the striking morphological convergence between the two extant sloth genera. Fil: Boscaini, Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Regional de Investigaciones Cientifícas y Tecnológicas; Argentina Fil: Iurino, Dawid A.. Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Italia Fil: Billet, Guillaume. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Francia Fil: Hautier, Lionel. Université de Montpellier; Francia Fil: Sardella, Raffaele. Università degli studi di Roma "La Sapienza"; Italia Fil: Tirao, German Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Física Enrique Gaviola; Argentina Fil: Gaudin, Timothy. University of Tennessee; Estados Unidos Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina

This special issue of the Journal of Mammalian Evolution coincides with the proceedings from a symposium held in conjunction with the 4th International Palaeontological Congress (IPC4, Mendoza, Argentina; September 28, 2014), entitled “Cenozoic evolution of TRopical-Equatorial MAmmals,” and abbreviated as TREMA. In this short introduction to the symposium proceedings, in which we present the contents of the current issue, we discuss the pivotal role of the mammalian fossil record at low latitudes for understanding the origin, structural organization, and dynamics of present mammalian biodiversity. Fil: Antoine, Pierre Olivier. Université Montpellier II; Francia Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina

The Deseadan South American Land Mammal Age (late Early Oligocene – Late Oligocene) attests to a time of great diversification in the caviomorph rodent fossil record. Nevertheless, Deseadan rodent-bearing localities in Neotropical lowlands are few and poorly known. Here we describe the rodent assemblages from two Late Oligocene localities, near Contamana, Loreto, Peru. Seven taxa are new to science: Palaeosteiromys amazonensis gen. et sp. nov., Plesiosteiromys newelli gen. et sp. nov., Loretomys minutus gen. et sp. nov., Scleromys praecursor sp. nov, Ucayalimys crassidens gen. et sp. nov., Chambiramys sylvaticus gen. et sp. nov. and Chambiramys shipiborum gen. et sp. nov. These rodent faunas show that caviomorphs were relatively diverse in Peruvian Amazonia during the Late Oligocene, with the co-occurrence of at least three extant superfamilies: Erethizontoidea, Octodontoidea and Chinchilloidea. Additionally, they mark the earliest known occurrences of Scleromys, of a small erethizontid closely related to Microsteiromys and of an adelphomyine closely reminiscent of Ricardomys (all taxa previously restricted to Miocene localities thus far). They also document a form potentially related to Eosallamys (previously known from around the Eocene–Oligocene transition at Santa Rosa in Peruvian Amazonia). Finally, the geographical range of Adelphomyinae and of Deseadomys is widely expanded to the lower latitudes of South America for the Deseadan interval. The latter elements, in addition to the record of a very primitive species of Scleromys, suggest the absence of palaeogeographical and palaeoenvironmental barriers within the southern cone of South America before the Oligocene–Miocene transition. Fil: Boivin, Myriam. Universite de Montpellier; Francia Fil: Marivaux, Laurent. Universite de Montpellier; Francia Fil: Candela, Adriana Magdalena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleontología Vertebrados; Argentina Fil: Orliac, Maëva J.. Universite de Montpellier; Francia Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Salas Gismondi, Rodolfo. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Tejada Lara, Julia V.. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú. Columbia University; Estados Unidos Fil: Antoine, Pierre Olivier. Universite de Montpellier; Francia

Le Paléogène d’Amazonie péruvienne a livré les plus anciennes communautés de rongeurs caviomorphes d’Amérique du Sud, lesquelles sont le résultat des premières phases de diversification de ce groupe. Ce travail présente l’étude de restes dentaires inédits de rongeurs fossiles issus de deux nouvelles sections situées à proximité des villes de Juanjui et de Balsayacu (Département de San Martín, Amazonie péruvienne). Les analyses de la morphologie occlusale des dents jugales et de la microstructure de l’émail des incisives indiquent la présence de taxons basaux tels que les genres Cachiyacuy Antoine, Marivaux, Croft, Billet, Ganerød, Jaramillo, Martin, Orliac, Tejada, Altamirano, Duranthon, Fanjat, Rousse & Salas Gismondi, 2012, Canaanimys Antoine, Marivaux, Croft, Billet, Ganerød, Jaramillo, Martin, Orliac, Tejada, Altamirano, Duranthon, Fanjat, Rousse & Salas Gismondi, 2012, et Eoespina Frailey & Campbell, 2004, dans les niveaux inférieurs de la série sédimentaire, auxquels succèdent des taxons plus dérivés, comme Eoincamys Frailey & Campbell, 2004, dans des niveaux plus récents. Ces taxons témoignent d’une morphologie intermédiaire entre ceux documentés en Amazonie péruvienne dans les localités éocènes de Contamana (fin de l’Éocène moyen) et ceux des localités oligocènes de Tarapoto/Shapaja et Santa Rosa (?Éocène supérieur/Oligocène inférieur). Ces fossiles apportent ainsi une documentation inédite en Amazonie, en ce que les secteurs de Juanjui et de Balsayacu présentent des dépôts sédimentaires couvrant vraisemblablement la fin de l’Éocène moyen, une partie de l’Éocène supérieur et la base de l’Oligocène. Enfin, la continuité stratigraphique de la longue section de Juanjui permet de démontrer l’existence d’un hiatus temporel significatif entre les assemblages à Canaanimys-Cachiyacuy-Potamotrygon ucayalensis (Contamana, Formation Pozo ; base de la section de Juanjui ; Balsayacu) et ceux à Eoincamys (Santa Rosa ; Tarapoto/ Shapaja ; sommet de la section de Juanjui). Paleogene deposits of Peruvian Amazonia have yielded the oldest caviomorph rodent communities from South America, and the clues that their early diversification had occurred in this area. Here we report fossil dental remains of rodents from two new sections located in the vicinity of Juanjui and Balsayacu (San Martín Department, Peruvian Amazonia). Analyses of the occlusal morphology of cheek teeth and of the incisor enamel microstructure indicate the occurrence of basal caviomorphs (such as Cachiyacuy Antoine, Marivaux, Croft, Billet, Ganerød, Jaramillo, Martin, Orliac, Tejada, Altamirano, Duranthon, Fanjat, Rousse & Salas Gismondi, 2012, Canaanimys Antoine, Marivaux, Croft, Billet, Ganerød, Jaramillo, Martin, Orliac, Tejada, Altamirano, Duranthon, Fanjat, Rousse & Salas Gismondi, 2012, and Eoespina Frailey & Campbell, 2004, genera so far known from late middle Eocene deposits of Contamana, Peruvian Amazonia) in levels situated in the lower part of the studied stratigraphic section. More derived taxa (such as Eoincamys Frailey & Campbell, 2004), known from early Oligocene deposits of Tarapoto/Shapaja and Santa Rosa, Peruvian Amazonia) occur only in upper levels of the section. Based on these considerations, the rodent-bearing localities of the Juanjui/Balsayacu area seem to be intermediate in age between the Contamana Eocene localities and the Tarapoto/Shapaja Oligocene ones and the Santa Rosa ?Eocene/Oligocene one. These new data document a poorly known period in Western Amazonia, in providing a sedimentological record most likely documenting the late middle Eocene, the late Eocene and the earliest Oligocene interval. Furthermore, the existence of a long temporal hiatus between Canaanimys-Cachiyacuy-Potamotrygon ucayalensis assemblages (Contamana, Pozo Formation; Balsayacu; lower levels at Juanjui) and Eoincamys-yielding faunas (Santa Rosa; Tarapoto/Shapaja; uppermost levels at Juanjui) is demonstrated in a single continuous and long-ranging stratigraphic section at Juanjui. Fil: Assemat, Alexandre Rémi Jean Pierre. Université Montpellier II; Francia Fil: Boivin, Myriam. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas; Argentina. Université Montpellier II; Francia Fil: Marivaux, Laurent. Université Montpellier II; Francia Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Benites Palomino, Aldo. Museo de Historia Natural de Lima; Perú. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Salas Gismondi, Rodolfo. Museo de Historia Natural de Lima; Perú. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Tejada Lara, Julia Victoria. Museo de Historia Natural de Lima; Perú. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú. Columbia University; Estados Unidos Fil: Varas Malca, Rafael M.. Museo de Historia Natural de Lima; Perú. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú Fil: Negri, Francisco Ricardo. Universidade Federal do Acre; Brasil Fil: Ribeiro, Ana Maria. Museu de Ciências Naturais, Fundação Zoobotânica Do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil Fil: Antoine, Pierre Olivier. Université Montpellier II; Francia. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Francia

Today, only three odontocete (toothed whales) genera are restricted to freshwater habitats: the Amazon River dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), the possibly extinct Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillif...

Pilosa include anteaters (Vermilingua) and sloths (Folivora). Modern tree sloths are represented by two genera, Bradypus and Choloepus (both around 4–6 kg), whereas the fossil record is very diverse, with approximately 90 genera ranging in age from the Oligocene to the early Holocene. Fossil sloths include four main clades, Megalonychidae, Megatheriidae, Nothrotheriidae, and Mylodontidae, ranging in size from tens of kilograms to several tons. Modern Vermilingua are represented by three genera, Cyclopes, Tamandua and Myrmecophaga, with a size range from 0.25 kg to about 30 kg, and their fossil record is scarce and fragmentary. The dependence of the body size on phylogenetic pattern of Pilosa is analysed here, according to current cladistic hypotheses. Orthonormal decomposition analysis and Abouheif C-mean were performed. Statistics were significantly different from the null-hypothesis, supporting the hypothesis that body size variation correlates with the phylogenetic pattern. Most of the correlation is concentrated within Vermilingua, and less within Mylodontidae, Megatheriidae, Nothrotheriidae and Megalonychidae. Influence of basal metabolic rate (BMR), dietary habits and substrate preference is discussed. In anteaters, specialised insectivory is proposed as the primary constraint on body size evolution. In the case of sloths, mylodontids, megatheriids and nothrotheriids show increasing body size through time; whereas megalonychids retain a wider diversity of sizes. Interplay between BMR and dietary habits appears to be the main factor in shaping evolution of sloth body size., Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo

Recent field efforts in Peruvian Amazonia (Contamana area, Loreto Department) have resulted in the discovery of a late Oligocene (ca. 26.5 Ma; Chambira Formation) fossil primate-bearing locality (CTA-61). In this paper, we analyze the primate material consisting of two isolated upper molars, the peculiar morphology of which allows us to describe a new medium-sized platyrrhine monkey: Canaanimico amazonensis gen. et sp. nov. In addition to the recent discovery of Perupithecus ucayaliensis, a primitive anthropoid taxon of African affinities from the alleged latest Eocene Santa Rosa locality (Peruvian Amazonia), the discovery of Canaanimico adds to the evidence that primates were well-established in the Amazonian Basin during the Paleogene. Our phylogenetic results based on dental evidence show that none of the early Miocene Patagonian taxa (Homunculus, Carlocebus, Soriacebus, Mazzonicebus, Dolichocebus, Tremacebus, and Chilecebus), the late Oligocene Bolivian Branisella, or the Peruvian Canaanimico, is nested within a crown platyrrhine clade. All these early taxa are closely related and considered here as stem Platyrrhini. Canaanimico is nested within the Patagonian Soriacebinae, and closely related to Soriacebus, thereby extending back the soriacebine lineage to 26.5 Ma. Given the limited dental evidence, it is difficult to assess if Canaanimico was engaged in a form of pitheciine-like seed predation as is observed in Soriacebus and Mazzonicebus, but dental microwear patterns recorded on one upper molar indicate that Canaanimico was possibly a fruit and hard-object eater. If Panamacebus, a recently discovered stem cebine from the early Miocene of Panama, indicates that the crown platyrrhine radiation was already well underway by the earliest Miocene, Canaanimico indicates in turn that the “homunculid” radiation (as a part of the stem radiation) was well underway by the late Oligocene. These new data suggest that the stem radiation likely occurred in the Neotropics during the Oligocene, and that several stem lineages independently reached Patagonia during the early Miocene. Finally, we are still faced with a “layered” pattern of platyrrhine evolution, but modified in terms of timing of cladogeneses. If the crown platyrrhine radiation occurred in the Neotropics around the OligoceneeMiocene transition (or at least during the earliest Miocene), it was apparently concomitant with the diversification of the latest stem forms in Patagonia.

Undoubted fossil Cebidae have so far been primarily documented from the late middle Miocene of Colombia, the late Miocene of Brazilian Amazonia, the early Miocene of Peruvian Amazonia, and very recently from the earliest Miocene of Panama. The evolutionary history of cebids is far from being well-documented, with notably a complete blank in the record of callitrichine stem lineages until and after the late middle Miocene (Laventan SALMA). Further documenting their evolutionary history is therefore of primary importance.Recent field efforts in Peruvian Amazonia (Contamana area, Loreto Department) have allowed for the discovery of an early late Miocene (ca. 11 Ma; Mayoan SALMA) fossil primate-bearing locality (CTA-43; Pebas Formation). In this study, we analyze the primate material, which consists of five isolated teeth documenting two distinct Cebidae: Cebus sp., a medium-sized capuchin (Cebinae), and Cebuella sp., a tiny marmoset (Callitrichinae).Although limited, this new fossil material of platyrrhines contributes to documenting the post-Laventan evolutionary history of cebids, and besides testifies to the earliest occurrences of the modern Cebuella and Cebus/Sapajus lineages in the Neotropics. Regarding the evolutionary history of callitrichine marmosets, the discovery of an 11 Ma-old fossil representative of the modern Cebuella pushes back by at least 6 Ma the age of the Mico/Cebuella divergence currently proposed by molecular biologists (i.e., ca. 4.5 Ma). This also extends back to 11 Ma BP the divergence between Callithrix and the common ancestor (CA) of Mico/Cebuella, as well as the divergence between the CA of marmosets and Callimico (Goeldi's callitrichine).This discovery from Peruvian Amazonia implies a deep evolutionary root of the Cebuella lineage in the northwestern part of South America (the modern western Amazon basin), slightly before the recession of the Pebas mega-wetland system (PMWS), ca. 10.5 Ma, and well-before the subsequent establishment of the Amazon drainage system (ca. 9-7 Ma). During the late middle/early late Miocene interval, the PMWS was seemingly not a limiting factor for dispersals and widespread distribution of terrestrial mammals, but it was also likely a source of diversification via a complex patchwork of submerged/emerged lands varying through time.

The Pleistocene fossil sloth Australonyx aquae De Iuliis, Cartelle, and Pujos, 2009 (Mammalia, Xenarthra, Megalonychidae) was described from the intertropical region of Brazil. However, its mandible was not known and only cursory descriptions of the ear ossicles were included. The mandible was subsequently recognized among the remains originally collected from the type locality, and belongs to the holotype individual. As a particularly important skeletal element for specific recognition, it requires description to complement our understanding of this species. The ossicles, usually poorly represented in the fossil record, require further description to allow differentiation from those of other sloths. Comparisons of the mandible and ossicles are conducted with homologous elements of the contemporaneous and sympatric Ahytherium aureum Cartelle, De Iuliis, and Pujos, 2008, the only other megalonychid sloth known from intertropical Brazil, and reinforce the distinction between these two species detailed in their initial descriptions. Comparisons with other sloths (e.g., Acratocnus, Megalonyx, Neocnus) also reveal differences with Au. aquae in such features as form and size of the caniniform tooth, angular process, and mandibular condyle. Differences among the malleus and incus of Au. aquae and several species of other sloth clades reveal clade level distinctions among Megatheriidae, Nothrotheriidae, and Megalonychidae. A well-preserved skull from the Brazilian state of Rondônia is noted as probably belonging to Au. aquae. This skull cannot be assigned formally to this species because it is not deposited in a recognized institution, but it does extend considerably the known range of the species. Fil: De Iuliis, Gerardo. University of Toronto; Canadá Fil: Cartelle, Cástor. Pontifíca Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais; Brasil Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina

A partial mesotheriine skeleton (Notoungulata, Mesotheriidae) from the Late Miocene Casira locality, southern Bolivia, is fully described and reinterpreted taxonomically. This specimen (MNHN-Bol-V-003724) was partially described previously without a taxonomic discussion, as it was considered to be Plesiotypotherium sp. After comparison with other Bolivian, Argentinean and Chilean mesotheres, we recognize a new species of the genus Plesiotypotherium Villarroel, P. casirense sp. nov., characterized by: nasals slightly enlarged posteriorly; zygomatic arch with strong antero-distal angle; zygomatic plate starting at the level of P4 and reaching the level of the anterior part of M3; lacrimal bony process; large infraorbital foramen; posterior border of the mandible very convex; P4 without lingual groove and with narrow and projected parastyle; M3 with simple third lobe; larger and more robust skeleton than other Plesiotypotherium species. Most postcranial elements are described in detail for the first time for Plesiotypotherium. The incomplete skull GB-KKL 740 from the same locality is also referred to the new taxon. P. casirense is the sister group of P. achirense Villarroel in the phylogenetic analysis, but the genus Plesiotypotherium appears as paraphyletic. The revised partial skull GB-ACH 100 from Achiri, Bolivia, which was labelled as Plesiotypotherium sp., does not belong to this genus, and it appears phylogenetically closer to Pseudotypotherium and Mesotherium. Plesiotypotherium casirense sp. nov. increases the known diversity of the Mesotheriidae in both the Miocene of Bolivia and the South American faunal context. © 2012 The Natural History Museum. Fil: Cerdeño Serrano, Maria Esperanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Vera, Bárbara Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Schmidt, Gabriela Ines. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; Argentina Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina Fil: Quispe, Bernardino Mamani. Museo Nacional de Historia natural; Bolivia

The occasion of the Xenarthra Symposium during the ICVM 9 meeting allowed us to reflect on the considerable advances in the knowledge of sloths made by the "X-community" over the past two decades, particularly in such aspects as locomotion, mastication, diet, dental terminology, intraspecific variation, sexual dimorphism, and phylogenetic relationships. These advancements have largely been made possible by the application of cladistic methodology (including DNA analyses) and the discovery of peculiar forms such as Diabolotherium, Thalassocnus, and Pseudoglyptodon in traditionally neglected areas such as the Chilean Andes and the Peruvian Pacific desert coast. Modern tree sloths exhibit an upside-down posture and suspensory locomotion, but the habits of fossil sloths are considerably more diverse and include locomotory modes such as inferred bipedality, quadrupedality, arboreality or semiarboreality, climbing, and an aquatic or semi-aquatic lifestyle in saltwater. Modern tree sloths are generalist browsers, but fossil sloths had browsing, grazing, or mixed feeding dietary habits. Discovery of two important sloth faunas in Brazil (Jacobina) and southern North America (Daytona Beach and Rancho La Brea) have permitted evaluation of the ontogenetic variation in Eremotherium laurillardi and the existence of possible sexual dimorphism in this sloth and in Paramylodon harlani. A new dental terminology applicable to a majority of clades has been developed, facilitating comparisons among taxa. An analysis wherein functional traits were plotted onto a phylogeny of sloths was used to determine patterns of evolutionary change across the clade. These analyses suggest that megatherioid sloths were primitively semiarboreal or possessed climbing adaptations, a feature retained in some members of the family Megalonychidae. Pedolateral stance in the hindfoot is shown to be convergently acquired in Mylodontidae and Megatheria (Nothrotheriidae + Megatheriidae), this feature serving as a synapomorphy of the latter clade. Digging adaptations can only be securely ascribed to scelidotheriine and mylodontine sloths, and the latter are also the only group of grazing sloths, the remainder being general browsers. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Fil: Pujos, François Roger Francis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; Argentina. Institut Français d’Etudes Andines; Perú Fil: Gaudin, Timothy. University of Tennessee at Chattanooga; Estados Unidos Fil: de Iuliis, Gerardo. University of Toronto; Canadá Fil: Cartelle, Cástor. PUC Minas; Brasil