Earliest hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus (Mephitidae, Carnivora), from the early Pliocene of Guanajuato, Mexico and origin of South American skunks
Por:
Wang X., Carranza-Castañeda O.
Publicada:
1 oct 2008
Resumen:
The hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus Gray, 1837, is one of the most widespread carnivorans in the New World, and one of the first to arrive in South America during the Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI). We report a basal hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus sanmiguelensis sp. nov., from the early Pliocene San Miguel de Allende Basin, Guanajuato State, central Mexico. The Mexican species greatly extends the first appearance of Conepatus from Irvingtonian to early Blancan in North America, more than doubling the time period of previously known appearances. The new species of Conepatus is also geographically closer to the Panamanian land bridge than previous records from the United States and northern Mexico, and permits a better sense of the faunal exchange during the early phase of the GABI. The new species is represented by two individuals, including a nearly complete skull and a partial mandible with most of the cheek teeth, as well as a large portion of the skeleton. Such a nearly complete re
Filiaciones:
Univ Nacl Autonoma Mexico, Ctr Geociencias, Juriquilla 76230, Qerretaro, Mexico
Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90007, United States
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China
All Open Access, Bronze
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