A preliminary assessment of the mammalian fauna from the Pliocene-Pleistocene El Breal de Orocual locality, Monagas State, Venezuela

Abstract

Preliminary collections from a new asphalt seep deposit in northeastern Venezuela produced a diverse vertebrate faunal assemblage of latest Pliocene or early Pleistocene age. This unique taxonomic assemblage includes 24 mammalian taxa described herein. Seven taxa represent new records for Venezuela (including Pachyarmatherium cf. P. leiseyi, Hoplophorus sp., Erethizontidae, Hippidion sp., and Platygonus sp.), and two of these represent the first definitive records for South America (a new tapir similar to Tapirus webbi and a homotheriine cat). The fauna represents the first diverse biota of Pliocene-early Pleistocene age from northern South America and fills an important geographical gap in our knowledge of faunal dynamics associated with the Great American Biotic Interchange.