Large caviomorph rodent footprints of the Late Oligocene Vinchina Formation, Argentina

Abstract

Footprints and trackways provide valuable information about trackmaker behaviour, locomotion, spatial and temporal distribution, among others. Here we describe tetradactyl mammalian footprints and trackways recorded in Late Oligocene meandering fluvial deposits of the Vinchina Formation (Oligocene - Early Miocene). The morphological analysis of the footprints suggests that they were produced most likely by dinomyid caviomorph rodents or a close relative. The footprints, unlike any previously recorded, are designated to a new ichnospecies, Tacheria troyana. The occurrence of these footprints potentially extends the temporal record of dinomyids in Argentina to the Late Oligocene.