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Foss. Stud., Volume 3, Issue 2 (June 2025) – 2 articles

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18 pages, 1768 KiB  
Article
The Patagonian Mara Dolichotis patagonum (Zimmermann, 1780) (Rodentia, Caviomorpha, Caviidae) in the Late Pleistocene of Northern Uruguay: Body Mass, Paleoenvironmental and Biogeographical Connotations
by Martín Ubilla, Martín Ghizzoni and Andrés Rinderknecht
Foss. Stud. 2025, 3(2), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/fossils3020007 (registering DOI) - 24 May 2025
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Abstract
The extant Patagonian mara Dolichotis patagonum (Zimmermann, 1780) is a cursorial herbivorous rodent that is hare-like in appearance. Nowadays, it occurs in some ecoregions of Argentina (28 °S–50 °S) in lowland habitats, in semi-arid thorn-scrub, in open grasslands and in shrub–land steppe. In [...] Read more.
The extant Patagonian mara Dolichotis patagonum (Zimmermann, 1780) is a cursorial herbivorous rodent that is hare-like in appearance. Nowadays, it occurs in some ecoregions of Argentina (28 °S–50 °S) in lowland habitats, in semi-arid thorn-scrub, in open grasslands and in shrub–land steppe. In this research, we have studied a partially preserved skull (FCDPV-2758), referred to D. patagonum, from the Late Pleistocene (Sopas Formation) in northern Uruguay (Arapey Grande River, Salto Department). Body mass estimates and morphological analyses were performed including contemporary specimens of D. patagonum, the Chaco mara Dolichotis salinicola, and extinct dolichotine species. The body mass estimate using the regression method and geometric similarity suggested a 6–8 kg range for the studied specimen, which is consistent with D. patagonum (7–8 kg) and notably greater than D. salinicola (1–2.3 kg). A comparative analysis, including the extinct D. platycephala and material previously referred to D. major from southwestern Uruguay, suggests that the studied specimen falls within the variation of D. patagonum, differing in part from D. chapalmalense and more clearly from D. salinicola, the extinct D. minor and Prodolichotis prisca. The implications of the wider geographic distributions of the living Patagonian mara at these latitudes in the Late Pleistocene in South America, and the paleoenvironmental significance are discussed. Full article
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18 pages, 7781 KiB  
Review
Reconciling Divergent Ages for the Oldest Recorded Air-Breathing Land Animal, the Millipede, Pneumodesmus newmani Wilson & Anderson, 2004: A Review of the Geology and Ages of the Basal Old Red Sandstone Stonehaven Group (Silurian–Early Devonian), Aberdeenshire, Scotland
by Michael E. Brookfield, Elizabeth J. Catlos and Hector K. Garza
Foss. Stud. 2025, 3(2), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/fossils3020006 - 26 Apr 2025
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Abstract
Divergent mid-Silurian (late Wenlock) and latest Silurian–earliest Devonian (Pridoli–Lochkovian) ages have been proposed for the strata bearing the millipede Pneumodesmus newmani, the oldest known undoubted air-breathing land animal, marking a significant event in the evolution of the first land biota. The late [...] Read more.
Divergent mid-Silurian (late Wenlock) and latest Silurian–earliest Devonian (Pridoli–Lochkovian) ages have been proposed for the strata bearing the millipede Pneumodesmus newmani, the oldest known undoubted air-breathing land animal, marking a significant event in the evolution of the first land biota. The late Wenlock age is based on physically correlating a non-marine section dated with spores and detrital zircon dates, across a fault, with a distinctly different non-marine section bearing the millipede. The Pridoli–Lochkovian ages are based on vertebrate fossils and detrital zircon dates from this latter section. A review of the available lithostratigraphic, petrological, and biostratigraphic data, plus detrital zircon dating of the basal Old Red Sandstone around Stonehaven, shows that the two dated sections have strata that are of different depositional environments, sources, and ages and that the totality of the evidence firmly dates the millipede-bearing strata as Pridoli–Lochkovian. Full article
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