New early Miocene primate fossils from northern Patagonia, Argentina

Abstract

There has been a long history of fossil primate discoveries in South America since the nineteenth century with the pioneering works of Peter Lund and Carlos and Florentino Ameghino. Most of the 26 described extinct genera come from two distant regions: Patagonia (Argentina and Chile) and La Venta (Colombia), ranging from the early to middle Miocene (e.g., Fleagle and Tejedor, 2002; Hartwig and Meldrum, 2002; Tejedor et al., 2006; Kay, 2010). The fossil record still remains limited, hampering the proper understanding of the history of the group, which is still a matter of debate. The oldest records of primates in South America belong to Branisella and Szalatavus, derived from late Oligocene deposits at Salla, Bolivia (see Fleagle and Tejedor, 2002 and references therein), assigned to the Deseadan SALMA (South American Land Mammal Age). The second oldest series of platyrrhine primates is derived from early Miocene levels of central Patagonia and Chile, which are assigned to the Colhuehuapian SALMA, and includes Dolichocebus, Tremacebus, Mazzonicebus, and Chilecebus (Kay, 2010 and references therein).