Phractocephaline catfishes from the late Miocene of Argentina, with the description of a new taxon

ABSTRACT

The fossil record of ‘phractocephaline’ catfishes in South America is relatively rich. The extinct species Phractocephalus ivy Azpelicueta and Cione, 2016, was named on the basis of diverse material coming from late Miocene beds of Paraná City, Argentina. A review of the holotype specimen described by those authors allows us to recognize that the individual may be referred to the extant genus Steindachneridion; thus, we propose the new taxonomic combination Steindachneridion ivy. Furthermore, part of the material described by previous authors may be effectively included within Phractocephalus. In this sense, the finding of new specimens in paleontological collections allows us to refer all these specimens to a new, previously unrecognized Phractocephalus species. The fossil record of ‘phractocephalines’ in the Paraná paleobasin indicates that the area played an important role in the evolution of this clade of basal pimelodids.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank A. Mones for providing us important bibliographic support. We acknowledge A. Giacchino, Fundación ‘Félix de Azara,’ and Maimónides University for their constant support during the preparation of the present manuscript. We especially thank M. D. Ezcurra (MACN) for his assistance during the revision of the paleontological collections under his care. We thank A. Martinelli for his support during the revision of the paleontological collections at MACN. We acknowledge N. A. Menezes (Museu Zoologia da USP) and E. Bernard (NHMUK) for sending photographs of specimens in their care. Photographer H. Taylor (NHMUK, London) imaged the S. iheringi holotype specimen. Finally, we thank J. Lundberg and K. Lunckenbill (Drexel University) for sharing images of S. scripta.