First fossil fish (Teleostei, Siluriformes) from the Late Pleistocene of Santa Fe Province, Argentina

Abstract

Vallone, E.R., Vezzosi, R.I. & Cione, A.L. February 2017. First fossil fish (Teleostei, Siluriformes) from the Late Pleistocene of Santa Fe Province, Argentina. Alcheringa 00, 000–000. ISSN 0311-5518.

The record of fossil fish from the Pleistocene of Argentina is poor. Here we describe the first ichthyofauna from Late Pleistocene riverbank beds in the Salado River of Santa Fe Province, Argentina. The material consists of isolated pectoral and dorsal fin spines, together with skull fragments. Four species-level taxa referable to three families can be identified: Pterodoras granulosus (Doradidae), Pimelodus cf. maculatus and Pimelodus cf. albicans (Pimelodidae) and cf. Hypostomus sp. (Loricariidae). Specimens attributed to Pterodoras granulosus and Pimelodus maculatus represent a minimum age for origin of these taxa. The Salado River assemblage includes the richest record of Pleistocene catfishes yet documented from southern South America.

Evelyn Romina Vallone [[email protected]] and Raúl Ignacio Vezzosi [[email protected]], Laboratorio de Paleontología de Vertebrados, CICYTTP-CONICET, Materi y España, (3105) Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina; Alberto Luis Cione [[email protected]], División Paleontología de Vertebrados. Museo de La Plata. Paseo del Bosque s/n, (1900) La Plata, Argentina.

Key words:

• Ichthyofauna
• Quaternary
• Doradidae
• Pimelodidae
• Loricariidae
• Argentina

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the curatorial people of the following institutions granted access to specimens: KUNHM, MCP, MFA and MLP. Diego Brandoni and Juan Diederle critically reviewed and greatly improved this paper. Finally, we thank Dr Benjamin Kear (Editor-in-Chief) and an anonymous reviewer for suggestions that improved the quality of this paper. This research was supported by CONICET.