Fossil horses from the late pleistocene of tapalqué creek (Buenos aires province, Argentina)

Abstract

A comparative study was made with the known record of equids species in South America, identifying the remains as Equus neogeus, Hippidion devillei, and Hippidion principale. These data increase the record of Equidae in South America and provide new evidence about the chronological and geographical distribution. The sedimentary deposits of the Lujan Formation outcropping at Tapalqué creek (4 to 120 ky) were accumulated through fluvial processes. This Formation comprises a rich vertebrate fauna corresponding to the Lujanian South American Land Mammal Age, which includes numerous and diverse vertebrate remains. The taphonomic analysis indicates that the faunistic assemblage was formed and was subject to diagenetic processes without distinction of its action in the fossiliferous levels, that can be recognized as fluvial deposits.