Matatlán (Miocene of Mexico)

Where: Oaxaca, Mexico (16.9° N, 96.4° W: paleocoordinates 17.4° N, 93.6° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Matatlán Formation, Early/Lower Barstovian (16.0 - 13.6 Ma)

• "several localities... from the unit's lower part, within a ~30 m thick zone" (Bravo-Cuevas and Ferrusquía-Villafranca 2006)

•K-Ar dates of 15.3 +/- 0.8 and 16.0 +/- 0.8 Ma on the underlying Mitla Tuff (Bravo-Cuevas and Ferrusquía-Villafranca 2006); dates earlier reported as K-Ar dates of 14.4 +/- 0.4 to 16.0 +/- 0.4 Ma

• member-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; poorly lithified, tuffaceous, argillaceous, conglomeratic sandstone

• "Friable to moderately indurated, thin to medium bedded tuffaceous sandstone, sparsely interbedded by felsic tuffs, bentonitic clay and polymictic conglomerate." (Bravo-Cuevas and Ferrusquía-Villafranca 2006)

Size class: macrofossils

Primary reference: I. Ferrusquia-Villafranca. 1990. Biostratigraphy of the Mexican Continental Miocene: Part I, Introduction and the Northwestern and Central Faunas. Part II, The Southeastern (Oaxacan) Faunas. Part III, The Southeasternmost (Chiapasan) Fauna and Concluding Remarks On the Discussed Vertebrate Record. Paleontologia Mexicana 56:1-149 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Marcot]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 18735: authorized by John Alroy, entered by John Alroy on 27.07.1994

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Mammalia
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Rhinocerotidae indet. Gray 1821 rhinoceros
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
"Merychippus" cf. primus Osborn 1918 horse
see also Bravo-Cuevas and Ferrusquía-Villafranca 2006
"Merychippus" cf. sejunctus1 Cope 1874 horse
 Artiodactyla - Camelidae
Camelidae indet. Gray 1821 camel
 Placentalia -
Pecora indet.2 ruminant
 Artiodactyla - Leptomerycidae
? Pseudoparablastomeryx sp.2 Frick 1937 ruminant
 Carnivora - Felidae
Felidae indet.2 Gray 1821 cat
"large"
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Leptarctus sp.2 Leidy 1856 mustelid carnivore