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New Toxodontid (Notoungulata) from the Early Miocene of Mendoza, Argentina

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New Toxodontid (Notoungulata) from the Early Miocene of Mendoza, Argentina RESEARCH PAPER New toxodontid (Notoungulata) from the Early Miocene of Mendoza, Argentina Analı´a M. Forasiepi • Esperanza Cerden˜o • Mariano Bond • Gabriela I. Schmidt • Maximiliano Naipauer • Fiona R. Straehl • Agustı´n G. Martinelli • Alberto C. Garrido • Mark D. Schmitz • James L. Crowley Received: 21 November 2013 / Accepted: 12 May 2014 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract We describe a new toxodontid species, Nes- dental features, and close comparisons were made with the odon taweretus sp. nov., from the Aisol Formation in Patagonian Nesodon imbricatus, common in the Santa Cruz Mendoza Province, central-west Argentina. Nesodon is a Formation (Santacrucian Age, Early Miocene). The mate- frequently found Toxodontidae, member of the Noto- rial is of a similar size to N. imbricatus, with a body mass ungulata, an extinct endemic group of Cenozoic South estimation of about 550 kg. The phylogenetic analysis American mammals that are ecologically similar to current groups N. taweretus sp. nov. with other species of Nesodon. hoofed ungulates. The holotype of N. taweretus sp. nov. is The absolute age of the Aisol Formation has been estab- a skull, and we tentatively assign some mandibular frag- lished at ca 19.480 ± 0.025 Ma (Burdigalian; Early Mio- ments and postcranial bones. N. taweretus sp. nov. differs cene) by means of U–Pb zircon dating. The vertebrate from the other Nesodon species in several cranial and association is encompassed by the Santacrucian Age. Lat- itudinal separation between Mendoza and Patagonia in the south would have favored taxonomic differences, as Electronic supplementary material The online version of this reflected in the species of Nesodon. article (doi:10.1007/s12542-014-0233-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. A. M. Forasiepi (&) Á E. Cerden˜o M. Naipauer Paleontologı´a, IANIGLA, CCT-CONICET Mendoza, Instituto de Estudios Andinos ‘‘Don Pablo Groeber’’ (FCEyN, Av. Ruiz Leal s/n, 5500 Mendoza, Argentina Universidad de Buenos Aires-CONICET), Pab. 2, Ciudad e-mail: [email protected] Universitaria, C1428EHA Buenos Aires, Argentina e-mail: [email protected] E. Cerden˜o e-mail: [email protected] A. G. Martinelli Departamento de Paleontologia e Estratigrafia, Instituto de A. M. Forasiepi Á F. R. Straehl Geocieˆncias, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Ave. Pala¨ontologisches Institut und Museum, Bento Gonc¸alves, 9500, Porto Alegre, RS 91540-000, Brazil Universita¨tZu¨rich, Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, 8006 Zurich, e-mail: [email protected] Switzerland e-mail: fi[email protected] A. C. Garrido Museo Provincial de Ciencias Naturales ‘‘Profesor Dr. Juan A. M. Bond Olsacher’’, Etcheluz y Ejercito Argentino, 8340 Zapala, Divisio´n Paleontologı´a de Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Neuque´n, Argentina Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900 La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] M. D. Schmitz Á J. L. Crowley G. I. Schmidt Boise State University, 1910 University Drive, Boise, Laboratorio de Paleontologı´a de Vertebrados, Centro de ID 83725-1535, USA Investigaciones Cientı´ficas y Transferencia de Tecnologı´aala e-mail: [email protected] Produccio´n (CICYTTP-CONICET), Materi y Espan˜a, 3105 Diamante, Entre Rı´os, Argentina J. L. Crowley e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] Keywords Nesodon Á South America Á Cenozoic Á Early Mendoza Province has been the subject of new pale- Miocene Á U–Pb (CA-ID-TIMS) tuff age ontological studies in the last few years, with a great deal of information on the evolution and distribution of Ceno- Kurzfassung Wir beschreiben eine neue Art der Tox- zoic mammals coming to light (Cerden˜o 2011). One of the odontiden, Nesodon taweretus sp. nov., aus der Aisol- areas studied and prospected is the Aisol Formation out- Formation in der Provinz Mendoza, im Zentralwesten von cropping in the San Rafael Department, in the center of the Argentinien. Nesodon ist ein ha¨ufig vorkommendes Taxon province (Fig. 1a) (Forasiepi et al. 2009, 2011; Vucetich der Toxodontidae, die zu den Notoungulaten, einer et al. 2011). The Aisol Formation outcrops in isolated ausgestorbenen Gruppe von endemischen Sa¨ugetieren des deposits that are exposed on the San Rafael Block and Ka¨nozoikums in Su¨damerika, geho¨ren und den rezenten mainly associated with the Atuel and Diamante rivers gehuften Ungulata o¨kologisch a¨hnlich waren. Der Holotyp (Dessanti 1954, 1956; Gonza´lez Dı´az 1972; Sepu´lveda von N. taweretus sp. nov. ist ein Scha¨del, dem wir vorla¨ufig et al. 2001, 2007). Several fossiliferous localities have been einige Unterkieferfragmente und postkraniale Knochen found in the area, with the richest being the Arroyo Seco de zuweisen. N. taweretus sp. nov. unterscheidet sich von den la Frazada (Fig. 1a). The stratigraphy of the Aisol For- anderen Nesodon-Arten in mehreren Merkmalen des mation has been subject of recent revisions (Forasiepi et al. Scha¨dels und der Bezahnung. Enge Vergleiche wurden mit 2011). Here, the Aisol Formation corresponds to the lower dem aus Patagonien stammenden und in der Santa-Cruz- section (LS) described by Forasiepi et al. (2011; Fig. 1b). Formation (Santacruzium, fru¨hes Mioza¨n) verbreiteten The fossil vertebrate association includes Anura, Testudi- Nesodon imbricatus gemacht. Das Material ist von a¨hnlicher ninae, Xenarthra, Notoungulata, Litopterna, and Rodentia Gro¨sse wie N. imbricatus,Scha¨tzungen der Ko¨rpermasse (Forasiepi et al. 2011). To date, the chronology of the Aisol ist etwa 550 kg. Die phylogenetische Analyse gruppiert Formation has been controversial. Early authors suggested N. taweretus sp. nov. mit anderen Arten von Nesodon. Das that the unit was deposited during the late Early Miocene absolute Alter der Aisol-Formation wurde mittels der U–Pb (Santacrucian Age; Dessanti 1954, 1956; Gonza´lez Dı´az Zirkondatierung auf etwa 19.480 ± 0.025 Ma (Burdigalium, 1972). Later fossil mammal finds suggested a middle Unteres Mioza¨ns) gesetzt. Die Wirbeltiervergesellschaftung Miocene age (Friasian s.l. sensu Soria 1983 or Colloncuran in das Santacruzium eingeschlossen worden. Latitudinale sensu Forasiepi et al. 2011). This contribution presents a Trennung zwischen Mendoza und Patagonien im Su¨den ha¨tte new radiometric dating of a 19.480 ± 0.025 Ma tuff bed, taxonomischen Unterschiede begu¨nstigt, wie das anhand der which constrains the absolute age of the mammalian Arten von Nesodon widergegeben ist. assemblage at these latitudes to the Early Miocene. The Notoungulata is a diverse and abundant clade of Schlu¨sselwo¨rter Nesodon Á Su¨damerika Á Ka¨nozoikum Á extinct South American ungulates recorded from the fru¨hes Mioza¨n Á U–Pb (CA-ID-TIMS) Tuff Datierung Paleocene to the Pleistocene (Bond et al. 1995; Bond 1999). Following the formation of the Panama Bridge, the distribution of the group increased from South America to Introduction Central and North America (Polaco et al. 2004; Lundelius et al. 2013). Their phylogenetic affinities are still unclear. For more than a century, Patagonia in Southern Argentina Notoungulates were related to other South American native has provided rich fossil localities for the study of Cenozoic ungulates (Astrapotheria, Litopterna, Pyrotheria, and Xe- mammals. Age calibrations, coupled with the quality and nungulata) in the group Meridiungulata (McKenna 1975). the quantity of the Patagonian fossil record, provide However, recent analyses dealing with the main phyloge- excellent material to diagnose the evolutionary history of netic relationships of placental mammals recorded affini- the South American biota. The north of South America has ties of notoungulates and Afrotheria (O’Leary et al. 2013). provided a less fecund fossil record and has demonstrated a Toxodontids are medium to large Notoungulata of the different taxonomic composition to the southern part of the Suborder Toxodontia, characterized by a specialized ante- continent (e.g., the Paleogene from Santa Rosa, Peru; the rior dentition, with hypselodont incisor tusks and hypsodont Oligocene from Salla, Bolivia; the Miocene from La Venta, molars. Toxodontids diversified during the Cenozoic and Colombia, and Urumaco, Venezuela; Kay et al. 1997; presented the richest diversity in the Miocene (Cifelli 1985; Campbell 2004;Sa´nchez Villagra et al. 2010; Shockey and Marshall and Cifelli 1990; Nassif et al. 2000). During the Anaya 2008). Mendoza Province in central-western Early and Middle Miocene, toxodontids were represented Argentina lies to the north of the windswept plains of by Nesodon imbricatus, N. conspurcatus, N. cornutus Patagonia, and is in a suitable geographical location to (Santacrucian SALMA in Argentina and Chile); Adinothe- provide data linking both biogeographic scenarios of the rium ovinum and A. robustum (Santacrucian SALMA in South American vertebrate evolution. Argentina); Proadinotherium muensteri (Colhuehuapian SALMA in Argentina); Palyeidodon obtusum (Friasian s.s. combination of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma and Colloncuran SALMAs in Argentina, Bolivia, and mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) and chemical abrasion Chile), Hyperoxotodon speciosus (Santacrucian–Colloncu- isotope dilution thermal ionization mass spectrometry (CA- ran SALMAs in Argentina and Chile), and Pericotoxodon ID-TIMS). Tuff level 2 (Fig. 1b) was chosen as the most platignathus (Laventan SALMA in Colombia) (e.g., Pasc- appropriate sample for dating based on its mineralogical ual 1954; Marshall et al. 1983; Madden
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