Insect trace fossils in glyptodonts from Uruguay

Abstract

The association of vertebrate remains and invertebrate traces, although less studied than other bioerosion traces, provides important paleoecological information. This report describes Cubiculum ornatum Roberts, Rogers, and Foreman 2007, Osteocallis Roberts, Rogers, and Foreman 2007 and other unidentified insect traces from the dermal skeletal remains of glyptodonts found in Uruguay. They come from the Fray Bentos Formation (Late Oligocene), the Camacho Formation (Late Miocene) and the Dolores Formation (Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene). The reported traces were likely made by sarcosaprophagous beetles, which indicate depositional conditions with dry episodes in a warm climate for the referred stratigraphical units.

KEYWORDS:

• Glyptodonts
• bioerosion trace fossils
• insects
• palaeoenvironments
• Cenozoic
• Uruguay

Acknowledgments

Thanks go to the reviewers, for their suggestions that substantially improved the manuscript, to the Tejera brothers (butchers of the town of San Ramón) for collecting and donating the specimen FC-DPV 901, to E. Bostelmann for providing photographs of the specimen FC-DPV 652, to A. Rojas and L. Castiglioni for allowing access to the specimens FC-DPV and CLC, respectively and to A. Batista, A. Corona, M. Ubilla, A. Rinderknecht, L. Vivanco, A. C. Badín, E. Núñez and S. Pérez for collaborating in the field work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was partially supported by projects ANII_FCE 2011_6752; C229-348 and 2013-ID 179/CSIC/UdelaR, Uruguay.