First record of Chaetophractus villosus (Mammalia, Dasypodidae) in the late Pleistocene of Corrientes Province (Argentina)

Abstract

Chaetophractus villosus is recorded from the Chapadmalalian (middle Pliocene) to present. This species shows one of the widest distributions of living dasypodids, but its current and past ranges do not include the provinces of the argentinean Mesopotamia (Entre Ríos, Corrientes and Misiones Provinces). We report the first record of Chaetophractus villosus in the Quaternary of Corrientes Province. These Quaternary deposits are exposed along the banks of the Paraná River and are represented by two successive upper Pleistocene formations: the Toropí Formation and Yupoí Formation. During the Pleistocene the southern end of South America has experienced climatic fluctuations, with alternations of short humid and warm periods and arid/semiarid and cold periods, leading to contraction or expansion of the biota from neighboring areas. The presence of Chaetophractus villosus in the late Pleistocene of argentinean Mesopotamia provides new evidence of periods with more arid and colder climatic conditions than the present.