Farola (FL1) (Neogene of Argentina)

Where: Buenos Aires, Argentina (39.0° S, 61.7° W: paleocoordinates 39.1° S, 60.3° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Montehermosan (6.8 - 4.0 Ma)

• The complete sedimentary sequence includes three stratigraphic units (Zavala, 1993): the Monte Hermoso Forma- tion (Lower–Middle Pliocene), Puerto Belgrano Formation (Upper Pleistocene) and Punta Tejada Formation (Upper Pleistocene–Middle Holocene). The Monte Hermoso Formation (Zavala, 1993) crops out at the abrasion platform and the lower part of the cliff, along its entire extension, with a maximum thickness of up to 6 m. Zavala and Navarro (1993) interpreted that the Monte Hermoso Formation was deposited through a fluvial dynamic of high sinuosity muddy fine-grained rivers. These authors identified architectural elements of channel, lateral accretion deposits and overbank deposits.

Environment/lithology: "floodplain"; lithified, muddy siltstone and lithified, silty siltstone

• The floodplain taphonomic mode was recognized in Farola (FL 1). The taphonomic characteristics of this mode partially correspond to those of model I (rapidly accumulated and buried elements), and model II (resedimented elements, with considerable exposure before burial), proposed by Johnson (1960) for putative formation mechanisms of fossil assemblages.
• The FL 1 is included in deposits mainly composed by muddy silt- stones, with colors that range from reddish brown to yellowish brown. Reddish brown sandy siltstones and silty sandstones are present too. These deposits have a massive structure in the middle– upper sector, while in the lower one they show a very fine lamination.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils, microfossils

Preservation: original phosphate

Collection methods: Fossil remains are deposited in the 'Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales Carlos Darwin' (Punta Alta, Buenos Aires), under the acronym MD-FM.

Primary reference: R. L. Tomassini and C. I. Montalvo. 2013. Taphonomic modes on fluvial deposits of the Monte Hermoso Formation (early Pliocene), Buenos Aires province, Argentina. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 369:282-294 [C. Jaramillo/A. Cardenas ]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taphonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 152062: authorized by Carlos Jaramillo, entered by Andrés Cárdenas on 05.11.2013

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Gnathostomata
  -
Amphibia
 Salientia - Ceratophrynidae
Ceratophrys sp. Wied 1824 South American horned frog
Mammalia
 Mammalia -
 Placentalia -
Rodentia indet. Bowdich 1821 rodent
 Rodentia - Chinchillidae
Lagostomus sp. Brookes 1828 viscacha
 Rodentia - Hydrochoeridae
Phugatherium cataclisticum Ameghino 1887 caviomorph
 Rodentia - Caviidae
Caviidae indet. Gray 1821 caviomorph
Orthomyctera sp. Ameghino 1889 caviomorph
Palaeocavia sp. Ameghino 1889 caviomorph
 Rodentia - Octodontidae
Pithanotomys sp. Ameghino 1887 caviomorph
 Rodentia - Myocastoridae
Paramyocastor diligens Ameghino 1888 caviomorph
 Rodentia -
Neophanomys sp. Rovereto 1914 caviomorph
 Rodentia - Ctenomyidae
Actenomys priscus Owen 1840 caviomorph
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
"Auliscomys formosus" = Kraglievichimys formosus Reig 1978 mouse
Necromys bonapartei Reig 1978 mouse
 Panameriungulata - Proterotheriidae
Eoauchenia aff. primitiva Ameghino 1887 placental
 Panameriungulata - Macraucheniidae
Macraucheniidae indet. Ameghino 1889 placental
 Cingulata - Glyptodontidae
Eleutherocercus antiquus Ameghino 1887 glyptodon
Plohophorus figuratus Ameghino 1887 glyptodon
 Cingulata - Dasypodidae
Doellotatus inornatus Rovereto 1914 armadillo
Macrochorobates chapadmalensis Ameghino 1908 armadillo
  - Mylodontidae
Proscelidodon cf. patrius Ameghino 1888 edentate
Lestodon sp. Gervais 1855 edentate
 Notoungulata - Toxodontidae
Toxodontidae indet. Ameghino 1889 notoungulate
Toxodon chapalmalensis Ameghino 1908 notoungulate
 Notoungulata - Mesotheriidae
Pseudotypotherium sp. Ameghino 1904 notoungulate
 Notoungulata - Hegetotheriidae
Paedotherium sp. Burmeister 1888 notoungulate
Paedotherium bonaerense Ameghino 1887 notoungulate
Reptilia
 Testudines - Testudinidae
Chelonoidis cf. australis Moreno 1889 turtle
 Squamata -
Tupinambis sp. Daudin 1802 tegu
Aves
 Anseriformes - Anatidae
Dendrocygna sp. Swinson 1837 whistling duck
 Cariamiformes - Cariamidae
Chunga incerta Tonni 1974 seriema