A new "South American ungulate" (Mammalia: Litopterna) from the Eocene of the Antarctic Peninsula

• Published in: Geological Society, London, Special Publications
• Main Authors: Bond, Mariano, Reguero, Marcelo Alfredo, Vizcaíno, Sergio Fabián, Marenssi, Sergio Alfredo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Geological Society of London
• Subjects: Litopterna; Eocene; Seymour; Antactica; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Argentina; Patagonia; Seymour Island; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11336/241827

Notolophus arquinotiensis, a new genus and species of the family Sparnotheriodontidae (Mammalia, Litopterna), is represented by several isolated teeth fromt he shallow-marine sediments of ht e La Meseta Formation (late Early-Late Eocene) of seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula, which have also yielded the youngest known sudamericids and marsupials. the new taxon belongs to the extinct order of "South American native ungulate" Litopterna characterized by the convergence of the later forms with the equids and camelids. Notolophus arquinotiensis shows closest relationships with Victorlemoinea from the Itaboraian (middle Palaeocene) of Brazil and Riochican-Vacan (late Palaeocene-early Eocene) of Patagonia, Argentina. Although still poorly documented, this new taxon shows that the early Palaeogene Antarctic faunas might provide key data concerning the problems of the origin, diversity and basal phylogeny of some of the "South American ungulates" (Litopterna). This new taxon shows the importance of Antarctica in the early evolution of the ungulates and illustrates our poor state of knowledge. Fil: Bond, Mariano. 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: Reguero, Marcelo Alfredo. 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: Vizcaíno, Sergio Fabián. 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: Marenssi, Sergio Alfredo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Ministerio de Relaciones ...