The first Mexican record of peccary footprints (Artiodactyla, Tayassuidae) from the late Cenozoic of Puebla: ichnotaxonomy and palaeobiological considerations

Abstract

A set of artiodactyl footprints preserved in the Pie de Vaca Formation from the Plio-Pleistocene of south-central Puebla in central Mexico is formally described. The sample consists of five footprints that represent a trackway produced by one individual. A comparative study and a taxonomic assessment were performed in order to identify the track-maker. The ichnites are characterized by having a rounded shape, length of about 5 cm, two hoof imprints that are longer than wide, and tips of the hooves directed forwards. Their size and morphology are comparable to those produced by extant peccaries. The spatial distribution of the footprints has been related to an individual in fast walking or even in a slow trot. Ichnotaxonomically, the record represents a new ichnospecies formally referred as to Tayassuichnum felixarangutii. A member of Platygonus, the most common peccary for the late Cenozoic of North America is proposed as the potential track-maker. The record contributes to the (indirect) presence of peccaries in central Mexico during the late Cenozoic, representing the first documented ichnites referable to that group of artiodactyls in the Mexican territory and the second mention in the North American subcontinent.

http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:41D44DD9-49F0-475D-B210-84DE5E9CBFAA

Keywords:

• Tayassuichnum
• Platygonus
• Plio-Pleistocene
• central Mexico

Acknowledgements

We thank to the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions that greatly improved the final version of the manuscript. We thank to Biologist David Cervantes Gómez, Veterinarian Denisse Cortés Mora and the volunteers Mayte Hernández Hernández and Aída Jeanette Cerratos Carrillo at the URRRFSM, for their support in preparation and handling of the collared peccary nicknamed “Peco”. First author thanks to his students Norberto García Cabrera and Alexis Pérez Pérez for their help during the work at the URRRFSM, as well as to Diana Calderón Guevara and Yovany Soto Díaz for their help during the fieldwork. We appreciate to Biologist Hugo Castro Azuara for his hospitality and unconditional support during our visits to the Pie de Vaca locality. Also thanks to Nuria M. Morales García (Bristol University, UK) for helping with the linguistic review of the manuscript.