Crater Lake Beds - Scarritt Pocket (Oligocene of Argentina)

Also known as Rinconada de los Lopez

Where: Chubut, Argentina (44.7° S, 68.4° W: paleocoordinates 46.0° S, 60.8° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Deseadan (Oligocene, see comments) mammal zone, Sarmiento Formation, Chattian (28.1 - 23.0 Ma)

• This collection record contains multiple levels collectively known as Scarritt Pocket. For the maximum age, we use the oldest dating for this locality (27Ma from Vucetich et al. 2014). For the minimum age, we decide to use the maximum dating of Marshall et al. 1984 (23.4+-1 Ma), because their minimum age (21.0+-1 Ma) now corresponds to a younger SALMA Colhuehuapian based on more recent datings by Dunn et al. 2013. Scarritt Pocket should be restrained in the Deseadan (30–23 Ma based on Dunn et al. 2013).

•To avoid further confusion with the definition of the Deseadan in the PBDB (which extends to the Early Miocene), we changed this record to the Chattian, so that Scarritt Pocket is dated to the Late Oligocene alone.

•Eocene–Oligocene ‘Tobas del Sarmiento’, Sarmiento Group or Sarmiento Formation (Feruglio 1949; Andreis et al. 1975; Spalletti & Mazzoni 1977, 1979; Reguero & Escribano 1996). Regarding the age of Sarmiento formation, absolute dates are lacking for Cabeza Blanca, but Deseadan levels have been dated in other localities such as Salla, Bolivia (29.4–25.65 Ma), Moquegua, Peru (26.25 Ma), and Chubut, Argentina, Gran Barranca (29.4–24.2 Ma) and Scarritt Pocket (27.17 Ma) (Dunn et al. 2013 and references therein; Vucetich et al. 2014).

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: crater lake; volcaniclastic conglomerate and volcaniclastic sandstone

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Preservation: adpression

Reposited in the AMNH

Primary reference: R.G. Chaffee. 1952. The Deseadan vertebrate fauna of the Scarritt Pocket, Patagonia. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 98:505-562 [J. Alroy/J. Wertheim/J. Wertheim]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 49783: authorized by John Alroy, entered by Jill Wertheim on 25.04.2005, edited by Jelle Zijlstra and Philip Mannion

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

unclassified
  -
Plantae indet.2 Haeckel 1866
GGS 158 (Quarry 1), 142 (Quarry 3)
Amphibia
 Salientia -
Anura indet.2 frog
AMNH 3401, 3402, 3406, 3408-3414, 3416-3419, 3421, 3423-3426, 3430 (Quarry 1)
 Salientia - Leptodactylidae
Eupsophus sp.3 Fitzinger 1843 frog
AMNH 3407, 3415, 3420, 3422 (Quarry 1)
Neoprocoela edentatus n. gen. n. sp.3 Schaeffer 1949 frog
AMNH 3428 (Quarry 1)
 Salientia - Calyptocephalellidae
Calyptocephalella canqueli n. sp.3 Schaeffer 1949 helmeted water toad
AMNH (GGS 149) 3400, 3427, 3429 (Quarry 1)
Mammalia
 Notoungulata - Interatheriidae
Argyrohyrax proavus5 Ameghino 1897 notoungulate
AMNH 29606
Progaleopithecus tournoueri5 Ameghino 1904 notoungulate
AMNH 29603; MLP 93-XI-20-5
 Notoungulata -
Toxodontia indet.2 Ameghino 1887 notoungulate
 Notoungulata - Leontiniidae
Scarrittia canquelensis n. gen. n. sp.4
Scarrittia canquelensis n. gen. n. sp.4 Simpson 1934 notoungulate
AMNH 29571, 29578, 29580, 29583, 29627 (Quarry 1), 29585 (Quarry 2), 29572 (= USNM 13879), 29577, 29581, 29582, 29584 (Quarry 3), 29592, 29593, 29595, 29614-29616, 29629 (Quarry 4), 29594, 29612, 29613, 29626, 29628 (Quarry level), 29567-29569, 29586, 29588, 29598, 29599, 29624, 29625, 29630 (specific locality unknown)
 Notoungulata - Notohippidae
Rhynchippus pumilus Ameghino 1897 notoungulate
AMNH 29579 (Quarry 1)
 Panameriungulata - Macraucheniidae
Macraucheniidae indet.2 Ameghino 1889 placental
AMNH 114034
 Placentalia -
Rodentia indet.2 Bowdich 1821 rodent
AMNH 29602, foot (Quarry 1)
 Rodentia - Acaremyidae
Platypittamys brachyodon n. gen. n. sp.7
Platypittamys brachyodon n. gen. n. sp.7 Wood 1949 caviomorph
AMNH 29600, 29601 (Quarry 1)
 Rodentia -
Changquin woodi n. gen. n. sp.6
Changquin woodi n. gen. n. sp.6 Vucetich et al. 2014 caviomorph
MPEF PV 8093, dentary dp4-m2. From a level equivalent to Quarry 4.
 Cingulata - Dasypodidae
Archaeutatus malaspinensis1 Ameghino 1902 armadillo
"Sadypus sp." = Meteutatus1 Ameghino 1902 armadillo
Meteutatus aff. lagenaformis1 Ameghino 1897 armadillo
 Cingulata - Peltephilidae
Peltephilus sp. Ameghino 1887 edentate
AMNH 29623
 Cingulata - Chlamyphoridae
 Sparassodonta - Proborhyaenidae
Proborhyaena gigantia metatherian
AMNH 29576 (Quarry level)
Reptilia
 Squamata -
Squamata indet.2 squamates
AMNH 3400 (GGS 150) (Quarry 1)