The fossil record of the ocelot Leopardus pardalis (Carnivora, Felidae): a new record from the southern range of its distribution and its paleoenvironmental context

Abstract

Leopardus is a genus that, despite currently being widely distributed in South America, shows until now a fragmentary fossil record. Among Leopardus, L. pardalis is the largest species, having an historical range that includes tropical and subtropical habitats from southern U.S.A. to southern South America but, as usual in the ocelot lineage, fossil remains that can be interpreted with certainty are restricted to the Late Pleistocene of southern U.S.A. and Brazil. Here we present a new record (a fragment of right maxillary plus zygomatic with P4–M1; incomplete left mandible with the coronoid process, part of c1 alveolus and p3–m1; isolated right c1) from the Late Pleistocene of Arroyo Toropí, Corrientes province, Argentina. The bearing level was dated with Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to 98.4 ka (Marine Isotopic Stage, MIS 5c). Present environmental requirements of L. pardalis and climatic reconstructions carried out here suggest a compatible scenario with MIS 5 for this fossil, which is concordant with the associated dating (ca. 98.4 ka). Leopardus pardalis appears to be part of a subtropical fauna, with Tayassu pecari and Euphractus sexcinctus, which inhabited the region during warm and wet climatic events of MIS 5c. Phytoliths and other vertebrates are congruent with its presence, since the inferred conditions are similar to the present one. The new record is relevant not only because it is the first fossil record of the species for the Pleistocene of Argentina, but also because it is placed 1800 km south of the closest accurately identified published fossil.