Abstract

GASPARINI, Germán Mariano  and  ZURITA, Alfredo Eduardo. First fossil record of Tayassu pecari (Link ) (Mammalia, Artiodactyla ) in Argentina. Ameghiniana [online]. 2005, vol.42, n.2, pp.473-480. ISSN 1851-8044.

The first fossil record of Tayassu pecari (Link) in Argentina is reported, represented by isolated molars and premolars from the Yupoí Formation (late Pleistocene), Corrientes Province. From a palaeoenvironmental point of view, the presence of this taxon (mainly adapted to humid climate and woodland and forest environments) in the Yupoí Formation, together with other paleofaunistic remains ( Dolichotis , Tolypeutes and Galea Meyen in the Toropí Formation, and Toxodon in the Yupoí Formation) as well as sedimentological evidences, supports the hypothesis of more humid climatic conditions than those inferred in the Toropí Formation (middle Pleistocene). The development of warmer and humid weather during the sedimentation of the Yupoí Formation may have allowed migration of "brazilian" faunas to the Mesopotamia, probably during the last interglacial (ca. 130 ka). This hypothesis is supported by the palaeofaunistic evidence obtained by other authors in other areas of the Argentine Mesopotamia, western Uruguay and southern Brazil.

Keywords : Tayassu pecari; Yupoí Formation; Lujanian; Corrientes Province; Paleozoogeography; Tayassu pecari; Formación Yupoí; Lujanense; Corrientes; Paleozoogeografía.