The Eocene to Pleistocene Vertebrates of Bolivia and Their Stratigraphic Context a Review
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THE EOCENE TO PLEISTOCENE VERTEBRATES OF BOLIVIA AND THEIR STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT A REVIEW LARRY G. MARSHALL" & THIERRY SEMPERE** * Institute of Human Origins, 2453 Ridge Road, Berkeley, California 94709, U.S.A. ** Orstom, UR lH, Casilla 4875, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Present address: Centre de Géologie Générale et Minibre, Ecole des Mines, 35 rue Saint Honor& 77305 Fontainebleau, France INTRODUCTION the type fauna of the Friasiali Land Mammal Age (conventionally middle Miocene) in southern Chile is temporally equivalent to the The record of Cenozoic fossil vertebrates in Bolivia is extremely Santacrucian Land Mammal Age. They thus use Colloncuran for the good. Compared with other countries in South America, Bolivia is land mammal age between Santacrucian and Chasicoan. For all second only to Argentina in the number of known localities and in practical purposes, Friasian of previous workers is equivalent to the wealth of taxa. Colloncuran as used in this study. Of the different vertebrate groups, the mammals are by far the This paper represents an expansion and updating of the Bolivian most abundant and best known. In fact, the record of mammal land mammal record as provided by Robert Hoffstetter (in Marshall evolution in South America is so complete that these fossils are used el al. 1983, 1984). As documented below, the highlights of this by geologists and paleontologists to subdivide geologic time. The record include: the taxonomically richest and best studied faunas of occurrence of unique associations of taxa that are inferred to have late Oligocene-early Miocene (Deseadan) and early Pleistocene existed during a restricted interval of time has resulted in the (Ensenadan) age in all o[ South America; and the exceptionally rich recognition of discrete chronostratigraphic units called Land record of late Miocene (Huayquerian) and early to middle Pliocene Mammal Ages. These ages were established on the basis of (Montehemosan) age faunas from the northern Altiplano. knowledge of stage of evolution of the taxa, on their time of first The Altiplano, including the Puna in adjacent Argentina and Chile, and/or last appearahce in the fossil record, and on changing faunal is a high-altitude plateau which covers southwest Bolivia, southeast associations through time. The sequence of South American Land Peru, northeast Chile and northwest Argentina. It is about 200 km Mammal Ages (SALMA) has been based largely on knowledge of wide and about 1500 km long, and some 300,000 km2 at 3,600- the exceptionally rich and complete record in Argentina (Marshall, 4,000 m (mean 3650 m; Isacks, 1988) of altitude. In Bolivia, the 1985). Detailed systematic studies of taxa along with geochronologic Altiplano covers about 170,000 km2 and is situated between the studies and magnetostratigraphy of the fossiliferous rock sequence Cordillera Occidental and Cordillera Oriental. and/or radioisotopic (Ar/Ar, K-Ar) dating of associated volcanic The following abbreviations are used: GEOBOL, Servicio rock units (i.e. basalts, tuffs, ignimbrites) permit geologists and Geológico de Bolivia; ka, thousands of years ago, a point in time; kg, paleontologists to correlate Bolivian mammal faunas with the kilograms; km, kilometers; m, meters; Ma, megaannum or millions Argentine sequence atid to make distinctions between ecological and of years ago, a point in time; My, millions of years, a duration of temporal relationships of local faunas and faunal assemblages. The time; yrbp, years before present. result of such studies is that land mammals have proven very useful for dating and correlating rock units within Bolivia in particular and with other South American countries in general. GEOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF BOLIVIA: EOCENE TO I We provide a review of the Eocene to Pleistocene land mammal PLEISTOCENE 1 record of Bolivia within its stratigraphic and tectonic context. The I use and chronology of South American Land Mammal Ages follows The reader must first be aware that the geologic evolution of the 'I Marshall (1985) as supplemented by Marshall, Drake e¿ al. (1986), central Andes is currently being re-evaluated, and that traditional and Marshall, Cifelli ef al. (1986). Recently, Tonni et al. (1987) models are being challenged. The latter envision that the central I recognized a new ,Pleistocene Land.Mamma1 Age between the Andes were subjected during most of Cenozoic time to a tectonic Ensenadan and Lujanian which they called Centinelan. However, the regime characterized by long tensional periods (during which the validity and utility of this new age has yet to be fmlyestablished in sedimentary basins formed), short synchronous compressional Argentina, and unti this is done it is futile to attempt to recognize it pulses, and generally high-angle faulting (Mégard, 1978; Dalmayrac 1 in Bolivia. In addition, Marshall & Salinas (1990) have shown that el al., 1980; Martinez, 1980; Lavenu & Marocco, 1984; Mégard et I l - -1 631 l Y l LARRY G. MARSHALL & THIERRY SEMPERE al. 1984; Lavenu, 1986; Sébrier et al., 1988). In contrast, new data After a time of relative quiescence (- 19-17 Ma), magmatism and new interpretations favor structural models dominated by slowly resumed at - 17 Ma (Grant et al., 1979; Redwood & progressive crustal shortening, thrust propagation, and foreland basin MacIntyre, 1989) and tectonism at - 14 Ma (Sempere, 1990). and evolution (Jordan et al., 1983; Jordan & Alonso, 1987; Isacks, 1988; considerably increased at 11-10 Mawith the onset of the second al., al., Roeder, 1988; Sempere et 1988, 1989, 1990a, b; Baby et major tectonic crisis (Sempere et al., 1989). This crisis lasted until - 1990; Sheffels, 1990). 5 Ma (Sempere et al., 199Oa), but tectonic and magmatic activities In Bolivia, the two models of Andean tectonics are sometimes at have lingered on to the present. There is apparently little relation odds with each other. For instance, the thick Cenozoic clastic strata between the onset of this second tectonic crisis and plate of the Altiplano were traditionally thought to have been deposited convergence history. during long epochs of extension with short interruptions by Each tectonic crisis was followed by the development of an compressive pulses. It is now believed that their deposition took extensive planation surface, respectively the Chayanta surface in the place mostly in intermontane foreland basins (i.e. in permanently middle Miocene and the San Juan del Oro surface during the late al., al., compressional settings; Baby et 1990; Sempere et 1990a, b, Miocene-early Pleistocene interval (Servant et al., 1989; Sempere et 1991). Predominance of compressive conditions in the central al., 199Od). Andean area since late Cretaceous time was first suggested in a general way by Marocco ef al. (1987). STRATIGRAPHIC FRAMEWORK The angular unconformities observed on the Altiplano and elsewhere in the Bolivian Andes have traditionally been interpreted The Cenozoic stratigraphy of Bolivia strongly relies on knowledge as materializing the mentioned "compressional pulses". However, of the basins where the strata were deposited. As already mentioned, this is not the only possible interpretation for these angular the Eocene-early Oligocene area of sedimentation was a large unconformities (Sempere, 1991). Moreover, although details of some foreland basin, and its paleo-landscape was a wide alluvial plain that important field observations relative to deformations in the Altiplano probably resembled the present-day Chaco-Beni lowlands. In have been well described, in particular in the works of Martinez contrast, the late Oligocene-Pleistocene period was characterized by (1980), Lavenu (1986) and Lavenu et al. (1989), several independent numerous separate intermontane basins, many of small size, that new chronologidal data make untenable the traditional timing of developed in deformed areas, and by the large Subandean-Llanura deformation (Sempere et al., 1990b). external fxeland basin of the Chaco-Beni lowlands. Therefore, the Calidity of the six "compressional tectonic pulses" The lower boundary of the Eocene-early Oligocene period or "phases", as listed by Sébrier et al. (1988), may be questioned. coincides with the upper boundary of the Kimmeridgian-Paleocene Intuitively, it seems unlikely that the enormous central Andes, which Puca Group (Sempere el al., 1988; Jaillard & Sempere, 1989; today are second only to the Himalayas in size and height of the Sempere, 1990). This locally angular unconformity (Marocco et al., mountain belt, crustal thickness, etc., developed by a small number 1987) marks the initiation of the foreland basin which developed, in of short "compressional pulses". what is today the Bolivian Altiplano and.Cordillera Oriental, during In this paper we adopt the tectonic model and stratigraphy Eocene-early Oligocene time (see above), and very likely resulted currently being worked-out by the Orstom-YPFB research program from a deep modification of the geodynamics of the Andean margin on the geology of Bolivia (Sempere et al., 1989, 1990a, b, c; at that time. Although approximately located at the Paleocene- Sempere, 1990), which we summarize below. A map showing the Eocene boundary (Cirbián et al., 1986; i.e.- 53 Ma according to tectonostratigraphic domains presently recognized in Bolivia Cowie & Bassett, 1989, and Odin, 1989; Fig. 2), this tectonic (Sempere ef al., 1988, 1990a). and the location of the main change might be related to the plate rearrangement which occurred sedimentary basins of late Oligocene-Pleistocene age are shown in