Cyonasua (Carnivora, Procyonidae) from Late Miocene of Peru Shed Light on the Early Dispersal of Carnivorans in South America

ABSTRACT

The oldest record of a carnivoran mammal in South America corresponds to the extinct procyonid Cyonasua (late Miocene–early Pleistocene). Up to now, this genus was recorded in Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Venezuela. In this contribution, we report the first occurrence of Cyonasua in the Pacific coast of Peru, recovered from the late Miocene marine deposits of the Pisco Formation. The fossil material comprises postcranial bones of two individuals (MNHN SAS 1625: left femur; MNHN PPI 262: axis, right talus, and left metatarsal III). The morphology and sizes of these new fossil specimens, allow us to refer them to Cyonasua sp. This record reaffirms that procyonids were the first North American carnivorans that arrived in South America prior to the full emergence of the Isthmus of Panama, as part of the proto-Great American Biotic Interchange. The presence of Cyonasua in marine deposits of the Pacific margin of Peru is further evidence for its affinity to coastal areas and water bodies, and provide clues to propose the arid coast of western South America as a route for dispersal to the southern lands.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank G. A. Billet from MNHN; M. González from MNHN Uruguay; M. Reguero from MLP; A. G. Kramarz and L. Chornogubsky from MACN; M. Taglioretti and A. Dondas from MMP, and Daniel Boh from MPH, for kindly providing access to the collections under their care. We are also grateful to D. Brandoni for helpful comments and suggestions for improvement of the manuscript, and L. González-Ruiz for kindly providing some pictures. We thank the two reviewers, A. Valenciano and J. X. Samuels, and the editorial staff of JVP for helpful suggestions to improve the manuscript. This work was supported by CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina), ANPCyT (Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Argentina, PICT-2016-2698), and PIDAC (Proyectos de Investigación y Desarrollo Acreditables, UADER). RS-G acknowledges support by CONCYTEC, Peru (Incorporación de Investigadores, grant E038-2019-02-FONDECYT-BM).