Tarija Formation (Pleistocene of Bolivia)

Where: Tarija, Bolivia (21.5° S, 64.7° W: paleocoordinates 21.5° S, 64.7° W)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Tarija Formation, Lujanian (0.8 - 0.0 Ma)

Environment/lithology: fluvial; lithology not reported

• According to McFadden et al (1983), Tarija formation consists of well-exposed and relatively fossiliferous sections of clays, clayey silts, sands, gravels, and tuffs which were deposited in a predominately fluviatile regime in a Pleistocene structural basin. Nevertheless, De Iuliis et al (2009) do not mentioned the lithology in which the specimen was found.

Size class: macrofossils

• Referred Specimens: A nearly complete adult skeleton recovered during the 1920s Riggs expedition (FMNH P14216); femur, tibia, astragalus, calcaneum (FMNH P13662); articulated skull and mandible (the skull has suffered considerable dorsal crushing and only the proximal parts of the premaxillae, fused to maxillae, are preserved) (NRM M4890); nearly complete skull (MUT V422); fragmented skull (MNPA(T) MS C3 18); two partial dentaries (CE 1080-1082); radius (MNPA(T) 6022); ulna (MNPA(T) 6024); femur (MNPA(T) 6025 & MUT V411); astragali (MUT V430 & MNPA(T) 5998); partial skeleton including skull, mandible, several vertebrae, pelvis, scapula, both humeri, and both femora (UNI 1).

Preservation: original phosphate

Collected by Riggs expedition in 1920

Collection methods: surface (in situ), mechanical,

Primary reference: G. De Iuliis, F. Pujos, and G. Tito. 2009. Systematic and taxonomic revision of the Pleistocene ground sloth Megatherium (Pseudomegatherium) tarijense (Xenarthra: Megatheriidae). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(4):1244-1251 [C. Jaramillo/J. Ceballos/M. Uhen]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 144731: authorized by Carlos Jaramillo, entered by Juliana Ceballos on 16.05.2013

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Mammalia
 Megatherioidea - Megatheriidae
Megatherium tarijense
Megatherium tarijense Gervais and Ameghino 1880 edentate