bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.19.440491; this version posted April 20, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC 4.0 International license. A FOSSIL FISH ASSEMBLAGE FROM THE MIDDLE MIOCENE OF THE COCINETAS BASIN, NORTHERN COLOMBIA GUSTAVO A. BALLEN1,2,* CARLOS JARAMILLO2,3,4 FERNANDO C. P. DAGOSTA5 MARIO C. C. DE PINNA1 *Corre pondi"% a'(hor, %&*&++e",)-%.&$+.com, %&*&++e",)-&+'."$.usp.br 1M' eu de Zoolo%$& da U"$0ers$#&de de S1o P&'+o, S1o P&'+o, SP, Bra2$+ 2S.$() oni&" Tropi,&+ Re e&r,) Ins($('(e, P&"&.3, P&"&.3 3ISEM, U. Montpe++$er, CNRS, EP4E, IRD, Mont!e++$er, Fra",e 4De!&r(.e"( of Geolo%6, F&,'+(y of S,$e",e , U"$0ers$(y of S&+&.&",&, S&+&.&",&, S!&$" 5F&,'+#&de de Ci7",$& Biol8%$,& e A.*$e"(&$ , U"$0ers$#&de Federa+ da Grande Dourados, Dourados, MS, Bra2$+ Abstract: Fre )9&(er fos $+ fi h f&'"& ha0e bee" long used to i"5er pa ( dra$"&%e ,onne,($ons, a the6 are bounded by ph6 $,&+ fre )9&(er barr$ers. Here we s('#y a .$##+e M$ocene (15.0-–15.5 M&) fos $+ f&'"& (M&@&ra$!&o) from t)e C& ($++e(e For.&($on i" nor(hern Colom*$&, no9&#&6 we ( of the Ande . We re,ord the pre e",e of l'"%: he (Lepidosiren), pa,' (Mylossoma and Piaractus), ar.ore# ,&(: he (C&++$,)()6$#&e), a"# re#=(&$+ c&(: he (Phractocephalus). EB(&"( me.bers of a++ those groups (eB,e!( the C&++$,)()6$#&e, due to l&,@ of t&Bonom$, re ol'($on) are 5ound i" A.&2oni&" f&'"& e& ( of the Ande and are a* e"( from f&'"& we ( of the Ande , i"#$,&($"% t)&( the r$0er$ne s6 (e. of the G'&C$ra Pe"$" '+& were conne,(ed to A.&2oni& dur$"g the m$##+e M$ocene. The s$.$+&r$(y of L& Ve"(& (we ( of the Ande ? &nd Rio A,re (e& ( of the Ande ) fi h f&'"& dur$"g the l&(e M$ocene fur(her i"#$,&(e ()&( the nor(hern Ande&n upl$5( w& no( a com!+e(e barr$er a( le& ( unt$+ ∼ 11 Myr a%o. 4o9e0er, there i a cont$ne"(&+=9$#e s(r',(ur$"% of the M$ocene fi h f&'"& t)&( i a+ o 5ound i" the eB(&"( f&'"& , s'%%e ($"g t)&( o(her f&,(ors, i" a##$($on to the upl$5( of the Ande , h&0e s)&ped the bio%eo%ra!)$, e0o+'($on of Sout) A.er$,&n fi h f&'"& . Keywords: Te+eos(e$, Ce"o2oi,, P&+eoe,olo%6, South A.er$,&, Morpholo%6. Fre )9&(er fi he are the r$,)e ( ver(ebra(e cont$ne"(&+ compone"( of the Neo(ropi, , 9$() ∼ 7,000 spe,$e (A+ber( & Re$ 2011). They are h$%)+6 d$0erse, ra"%$"g from *ra,@$ h w&(ers to e+e0&($ons abo0e 3000 m in the Ande (S,)&e5er 2011). De !$(e t)$ enor.ous di0ers$(6, fre )9&(er fi he are no( a prom$"e"( i" the fos $+ re,ord of Sout) 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.19.440491; this version posted April 20, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC 4.0 International license. A.er$,& a m&..&+ or cro,od6+$&" , a"# they are of(e" re,orde# from bone 5ra%.e"( of l$.$(e# di&gnos($, v&+'e (Lundber% et al. 2010). The pa',$(6 of w$de= ra"%$"g com!&ra($0e morpholo%$,&+ a"&+6 e foc' ed on di&gnos($, c)&ra,(ers pre er0ed i" fos $+ fi h spe,$.e" l$.$( the ide"($:,&($on to only coarse t&Bonom$, +e0e+ s',) a order or f&.$+6. S',) dra9*&,@ l$.$( po(e"($&+ use of Neo(ropi,&+ fre )9&(er fo $+ fi he i" pa+eoe,olo%$,&+, s6 (e.&($,, bios(ra($%ra!)$,, and *$o%eo%ra!)$, s('#$e . Fre )9&(er fi he ha0e pro0$de# e0$de",e of a",$e"( dra$"&%e conne,($ons be(9een r$0er s6 (e. e& ( a"# we ( of the Ande , a the di !ers&+ po(e"($&+ of fre )9&(er fi he &,ros moun(&$n ra"%e i l$.$(ed for lo9+&nd t&B&, t)' he+!$"g to cons(ra$n the e0ol'($on of the Ande&n oro%e"y (Lundber% 1997; Lundber% et al. 2010). For eB&.!+e, eB(&"( fre )9&(er fi h t&B& curre"(+6 re (r$,(e# to c$ =Ande&n dra$"&%e (e.%., Or$noco-A.&2on) are found in M$ocene tra" =Ande&n s$(e ($.e., we ( of moder" Ande r&"%e a L& Ve"(&, Ca ($++e(e and Ur'.&,o), i"#$,&($"% a",$e"( hydrolo%$,&+ ,onne,($0$(y t)&( i se0ered no9&#&6 (D$&2 de G&.ero 1996; Gre%or6=Aodz$,@$ 2000; Monte et al. 2021). A num*er of s('#$e ha0e i.pro0ed our unders(&"#$"% of the geo+o%y a"# !&+eon(olo%y of t)e Coc$ne(& se#$.e"(&ry ba $" in the G'&C$ra Pe"$" '+& of nor()er" Colom*$& (Moreno et al. 2015). Se0era+ ver(ebra(e groups are repre e"(ed i" the e e#$.e"( , bo(h m&r$ne and cont$ne"(&+ (A%'$+era et al. 2013b, 2017; Fora $e!$ et al. 2014; C&#e"& & J&ra.$++o 2015a,bG A. on et al. 2016; Moreno-Ber"&+ et al. 2016; S'&re2 et al. 2016; C&rr$++o-Br$,eño et al. 2019); in con(ra (, fre )9&(er fi he re.&$" +&r%e+y unrepor(e# in t)e e a e.*+&%e (bu( see A%'$+era et al. 2013a). 4ere$n, we repor( the fre )9&(er fo $+ fi he of the M$ocene Ca ($++e(e For.&($on $n the M&@&ra$!&o loc&+$(6, nor(hern Colom*$&, and the$r re+e0&"( a"&(om$,&+ ,)&ra,(ers. We com!&re the fos $+ a e.*+&%e w$(h Sout) A.er$,&n fi h f&'"& a we++ & w$() the eB(&"( cont$"e"(&+ fi h d$0ers$(y i" order to unders(&nd the hi (or$,&+ ,ompone"( of s$.$+&r$(6 pa((er" in t$.e a"# s!&,e. MATERIALS AND METHODS Geological setting The Coc$ne(& se#$.e"(&ry ba $" pre er0e a s',,e $on of cont$ne"(&+ to s)&++o9 .&r$"e s(ra(& on the nor(hern m&r%$n of t)e South A.er$,&" P+&(e. Moreno et al. (2015) rede:ne# the s(ra($%ra!)y of the ba $n a"# sho9ed t)&( the C& ($++e(e For.&($on i composed of se#$.e"( of M$ocene a%e from mos(+6 s)&++o9 m&r$ne e"0$ronme"( . It lo9er boundar6 i concor#&"( w$(h t)e J$.ol For.&($on where& i( 2 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.19.440491; this version posted April 20, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC 4.0 International license. upper boundar6 i se( by an uncon5or.$(y w$() the W&re For.&($on. The C& ($++e(e For.&($on ha bee" da(e# a lo9er to m$##+e M$ocene us$"g Sr geochrono+o%y (He"#6 et al. 2015). M&@&ra$!&o (loc&+$(y STRI 390093, 11º54’32.0“N 71º20’24.4”A) i a modera(e !+&(e&' l6$"g to t)e we ( of the T',&,& ba6, m'"$,$!&+$(y of Ur$*$&, G'&C$ra de!&r(.e"(, nor(hern Colom*$& (F$gure 1a=,). The loc&+$(y i re,orde# in the (ra($%ra!)$, se,($on c&++e# “Long se,($on” (Moreno et al. 2015). The loc&+$(y l$e &bout 127 s(ra($gra!)$, me(ers abo0e the ba e of the se,($on (F$gure 1d) a"# ∼ 279 m &bo0e the ba e of the C& ($++e(e for.&($on (S'&re2 et al. 2016). Spe,$.e" were ,ol+e,(ed from a s&"# (one and con%+o.era($, s&"# (one le0e+. The Sr i o(opi, da(& ,ons(ra$" the M&@&ra$!&o loc&+$(y to a 15.0–-15.5 M& a%e (C&rr$++o-Br$,eño et al. 2019, fi%. 2). Abbreviations Ins($('($ona+ abbre0$&($ons areN A,&#e.y of N&(ura+ S,$e",e of DreBe+ U"$0ers$(6, P)$+&de+!)$&, US (ANSP), Ins($('(o A+eB&nder von H'.bol#(, V$++& de Le60&, Colom*$& (IA04), M' eu de Zoolo%$& da U"$0ers$#&de de S1o P&'+o, S1o P&'+o, Bra2$+ (M/USP), M&!'@& M' e'. of U"$0ers$#&# de+ Nor(e, Barra"O'$++&, Colom*$& ;MUN). Pre.&B$++& and de"(&ry are abbre0$&(e# PM and D re pe,($0e+6. ApproB$.&(e+6='"*$& ed a"# boo( (rap noda+ suppor( v&+ue are ter.e# AU and BT re pe,($0e+6. Anatomical terminology De ,r$!($0e nome",+&(ure of serra &+.$# de"($($on fol+o9 Cione et al. (2009) w$(h .odi:,&($ons where neede# (F$gure 2). Le!$dos$re"$d a"&(o.$,&+ ter.$no+o%y fol+o9 Cr$ 9e++ (2015).