Goliath catfish Brachyplatystoma Bleeker, 1862 (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae) from the Miocene of Argentina

Abstract

Brachyplatystoma is a genus of freshwater catfishes endemic of South America that includes one the largest siluriform species of the neotropics. The fossil record of the genus is restricted to the Miocene of Colombia and Venezuela and the extant species are distributed along Orinoco and Amazonas basins. The present works aims to describe a new species of Brachyplatystoma from late Miocene deposits at Entre Ríos Province, Argentina. The present report constitutes the first finding of Brachyplatystoma in the Paleoparaná Basin, which is in agreement with previous hypothesis indicating hydrographic connections of this river basin with the Amazon basin until at least the early late Miocene times.