Prolagostomus amplus Ameghino is a Junior Synonym of the Patagonian Rodent Pliolagostomus notatus Ameghino (Chinchillidae; Early Miocene, Santa Cruz Formation)

Abstract

Chinchillidaeis a group of caviomorph rodents poorly represented in recent times that includes six living species grouped in three genera, Chinchilla Bennett, 1829, Lagidium Meyen, 1833 and Lagostomus Brookes, 1828 (e.g., Spotorno and Patton, 2015; Spotorno and Valladares Faúndez, 2016). Two species of Chinchilla and three species of Lagidium inhabits Andean regions from Ecuador to southern Argentina and Chile, and are included in the subfamily Chinchillinae, while the single living species of Lagostomus, Lagostomus maximus (Desmarest, 1817), inhabits lowlands of Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia, constituting the sole living member of Lagostominae (e.g., Redford and Eisenberg, 1992; Jackson et al., 1996; Spotorno and Patton, 2015; Spotorno and Valladares Faúndez, 2016).