Ware Vertebrates (Pliocene of Colombia)

Also known as STRI 470062

Where: La Guajira, Colombia (11.9° N, 71.3° W: paleocoordinates 11.7° N, 70.8° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Ware Formation, Piacenzian (3.6 - 2.6 Ma)

• The marine invertebrate fauna of the Ware Formation shows a greater similarity with modern assemblages offshore of the Guajira Peninsula than with those of the underlying units. Few taxa provide finely resolved age constraints for the Ware Formation. Pectinids such as Amusium mortoni (early Pliocene to earliest Pleistocene), Euvola codercola (latest Miocene to Pliocene), and Nodipecten arnoldi (late Pliocene to early Pleistocene) suggest an age close to the Pliocene-Pleistocene boundary. A number of internal molds of a shell similar to Acrosterigma dalli (Heilprin, 1887) were also collected. Acrosterigma dalli is known only from the earliest Pleistocene of Florida, and is not easily confused with other cardiid bivalves. A mean age of 3.2 Ma (range of 3.40 Ma to 2.78 Ma) is calculated for the shell bed at the top of the formation from

•87 86 Sr/ Sr ratios. A late Pliocene (Piacenzian) age is assigned to the Ware Formation on the basis of macroinvertebrate biostratigraphy and 87Sr/86Sr isotope chronostratigraphy.

Environment/lithology: fluvial-deltaic; lithified, quartzose sandstone and lithified, muddy sandstone

• The base of the Ware Formation was deposited in a fluvio-deltaic environment, whereas the marine invertebrate assemblage at the top of the unit contains taxa typical of exposed open-ocean shoreface and nearshore settings, but with proximity to coral reef habitats.
• The formation is composed of greyish yellow fine lithic to quartz sandstone and muddy lithic to quartz sandstone, light grey mudstone, reddish grey pebbly conglomerate with sedimentary and metamorphic rock fragments, yellowish grey fossiliferous packstone, and sandy to conglomeratic beds with high fossil content. Lenticular conglomerates with sedimentary and metamorphic rock fragments, very rich in vertebrate fossils dominates the base of the sequence, they are interbedded with mudstone, sandy mudstone, and fossiliferous fine lithic to quartz sandstone with planar bedding (~7 m). Thick levels of fine lithic to quartz sandstone and sandy mudstone with cross- and planar bedding, and metric clinoforms compose the middle part of the sequence (~15 m). The uppermost horizon of the Ware comprises fossiliferous packstone with gravel-size fragments that vary laterally from packstone to sandy conglomerate (~3m).

Size class: macrofossils

Primary reference: J. F. Moreno, A. J. W. Hendy, L. Quiroz, N. Hoyos, D. S. Jones, V. Zapata, S. Zapata, G. A. Ballen, E. Cadena, A. L. Cardenas, J. D. Carrillo, J. D. Carrillo, D. Delgado-Sierra, J. Escobar, J. I. Martinez, C. Martinez, C. Montes, J. Moreno, N. Perez, R. Sanchez, C. Suarez and M. C. Valle. 2015. Revised stratigraphy of Neogene strata in the Cocinetas Basin, La Guajira, Colombia. Swiss Journal of Paleontology [C. Jaramillo/A. Cardenas /G. Ballen]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 166508: authorized by Carlos Jaramillo, entered by Andrés Cárdenas on 16.02.2015, edited by Juan Carrillo and Gustavo Ballen

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Chondrichthyes
 Carcharhiniformes - Carcharhinidae
Carcharhinidae sp.
Carcharhinidae sp. Jordan and Evermann 1896 requiem shark
 Carcharhiniformes - Sphyrnidae
Sphyrnidae sp.
Sphyrnidae sp. Gill 1872 hammerhead shark
 Rhinopristiformes - Pristidae
Pristidae sp.
Pristidae sp. Bonaparte 1838 sawfish
 Myliobatiformes - Myliobatidae
Myliobatidae sp.
Myliobatidae sp. Bonaparte 1838 eagle ray
Reptilia
 Testudines - Podocnemididae
Podocnemididae sp.
Podocnemididae sp. Cope 1868 sideneck turtle
 Crocodylia - Crocodylidae
Crocodylidae indet.4, Crocodylus sp.4
Crocodylidae indet.4 crocodile
MUN STRI-12939 and 16180
Crocodylus sp.4 Laurenti 1768 crocodile
MUN STRI-17702
 Crocodylia - Alligatoridae
Alligatoridae sp.
Alligatoridae sp. crocodilian
Aves
 Aves -
Aves sp.
Mammalia
 Cingulata - Glyptodontidae
Glyptodontidae sp.
 Cingulata - Pampatheriidae
Pampatheriidae sp.
Pampatheriidae sp. Paula Couto 1954 edentate
  - Mylodontidae
Mylodontidae indet.1, Scelidotheriinae indet.1, Lestodontinae indet.1
Mylodontidae indet.1 Ameghino 1889 edentate
MUN STRI 38047
Scelidotheriinae indet.1 Ameghino 1889 edentate
MUN STRI 16535
Lestodontinae indet.1 Ameghino 1888 edentate
MUN STRI 36643, 34353
 Megatherioidea - Nothrotheriidae
cf. Nothrotherium sp.1
cf. Nothrotherium sp.1 Lydekker 1889 edentate
MUN STRI 12924
 Megatherioidea - Megatheriidae
Pliomegatherium lelongi1
Pliomegatherium lelongi1 Kraglievich 1930 edentate
 Megatherioidea - Megalonychidae
Megalonychidae sp.
Megalonychidae sp. Gervais 1855 edentate
 Xenarthra -
"Tardigrada indet." = Folivora1
"Tardigrada indet." = Folivora1 Delsuc et al. 2001 edentate
MUN STRI 20108
 Carnivora - Procyonidae
Chapalmalania sp.3
Chapalmalania sp.3 Ameghino 1908 procyonid carnivore
 Artiodactyla - Camelidae
Camelidae sp.
Camelidae sp. Gray 1821 camel
 Panameriungulata - Proterotheriidae
Proterotheriidae sp.
Proterotheriidae sp. Ameghino 1887 placental
 Rodentia - Erethizontidae
Erethizontidae sp.
Erethizontidae sp. Bonaparte 1845 porcupine
 Rodentia - Caviidae
Caviidae sp., ? Hydrochoeropsis wayuu n. sp.5
Caviidae sp. Gray 1821 caviomorph
? Hydrochoeropsis wayuu n. sp.5 Pérez et al. 2017 caviomorph
 Notoungulata - Toxodontidae
Toxodontidae sp.
Toxodontidae sp. Scott 1873 notoungulate
Actinopteri
 Cichliformes - Cichlidae
Cichlidae sp.
Cichlidae sp. Heckel 1840 cichlid
 Acanthomorphata - Sciaenidae
Sciaenidae sp.
Sciaenidae sp. Cuvier 1828
 Characiformes - Cynodontidae
Hydrolycus scomberoides2, Hydrolycus sp.2, cf. Rhaphiodon sp.2
Hydrolycus sp.2 Lundberg 1997
MUN 16230, MUN 16340, MUN 16591, MUN 16540, MUN 34399, MUN 34426, MUN 34444
cf. Rhaphiodon sp.2 Agassiz 1829
MUN 37734
 Characiformes - Characidae
Characidae sp.
 Characiformes - Serrasalmidae
Serrasalmidae sp.
Serrasalmidae sp. Günther 1864
 Siluriformes - Pimelodidae
Pimelodidae sp.
Pimelodidae sp. Eigenmann and Eigenmann 1918 catfish
 Siluriformes - Doradidae
Doradidae sp.
1Amson et al. 2016; 2Ballen et al. 2021; 3Forasiepi et al. 2014; 4Moreno-Bernal et al. 2016; 5Pérez et al. 2017