Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vfjqv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-28T17:31:38.925Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Blancan camelids from San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, central México

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2015

E. Jiménez-Hidalgo  and
O. Carranza-Castañeda
E. Jiménez-Hidalgo
Affiliation:
Universidad del Mar, Campus Puerto Escondido, Instituto de Recursos, Km. 2.5 Carretera Puerto Escondido-Oaxaca, Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca 71980, México
O. Carranza-Castañeda
Affiliation:
Centro de Geociencias, Campus Juriquilla, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Juriquilla, Querétaro 76230, México,
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

During the Pliocene, the diversification of the tribes Lamini and Camelini of the Family Camelidae took place in most of North America, but at present in Mexico the systematics of Pliocene Camelidae are poorly known. Fossil material described in this paper was recovered from Blancan I and Blancan III age floodplain and point bar deposits of the San Miguel de Allende basin, Guanajuato state, central Mexico, which approximately spans a time frame from 4.7 to 3.0 Ma. The identified taxa include the lamines Hemiauchenia blancoensis (Meade) 1945, Hemiauchenia gracilis Meachen, 2005, Blancocamelus meadei Dalquest, 1975 and Camelops sp., while the camelines are represented by Megatylopus sp. The records of H. gracilis and B. meadei in the Pliocene of central Mexico are the oldest in North America. Previous studies of the probable feeding strategies of these taxa indicate that they were browsers or browser-like intermediate feeders and just one was an intermediate feeder. The records of these species in the Early Blancan of Guanajuato extend their geographic distribution from the southern USA to central Mexico.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 84 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 51 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, A. J., Christiansen, E. H., Kowallis, B. A., Carranza-Castañeda, O., and Miller, W. E. 2006. Contrasting silicic magma series in Miocene-Pliocene ash deposits in the San Miguel de Allende graben, Guanajuato, Mexico. Journal of Geology, 114:247–266.10.1086/499633Google Scholar
Barbour, E. H. and Schultz, B. 1934. A new giant camel, Titanotylopus nebraskensis, gen. et sp. nov. Nebraska State Museum Bulletin, 1:291–294.Google Scholar
Barbour, E. H. and Schultz, B. 1939. A new giant camel, Gigantocamelus fricki, gen. et sp. nov. Nebraska State Museum Bulletin, 1:17–26.Google Scholar
Bell, C. J., Lundelius, E. L. Jr., Barnosky, A. D., Graham, R. W., Lindsay, E. H., Ruez, D. R. Jr., Semken, H. A. Jr., Webb, S. D., and Zakrzewski, R. J. 2004. The Blancan, Irvingtonian and Rancholabrean mammal ages, p. 232–314. In Woodburne, M. J. (ed.), Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic mammals of North America: Biostratigraphy and Geochronology. Columbia University Press, New York.10.7312/wood13040-009Google Scholar
Bravo-Cuevas, V. and Ferrusquía-Villafranca, I. 2008. Cormohipparion (Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Equidae) from the middle Miocene of Oaxaca, southeastern Mexico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28:243–250.10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[243:CMPEFT]2.0.CO;2Google Scholar
Breyer, J. A. 1974. Examination of selected postcranial elements in Pleistocene camelids. Contributions to Geology, 13:75–85.Google Scholar
Breyer, J. A. 1977. Intra- and interespecific variation in the lower jaw of Hemiauchenia . Journal of Paleontology, 51:527–535.Google Scholar
Breyer, J. A. 1983. The biostratigraphic utility of camel metapodials. Journal of Paleontology, 57:302–307.Google Scholar
Carranza-Castañeda, O. 2006. Late Tertiary fossil localities in central Mexico, between 19°–23° N, p. 45–60. In Carranza-Castañeda, O. and Lindsay, E. H. (eds.), Advances in late Tertiary vertebrate paleontology in Mexico and the Great American Biotic Interchange. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Geología and Centro de Geociencias. Publicación Especial 4.Google Scholar
Carranza-Castañeda, O. and Miller, W. E. 1998. Paleofaunas de vertebrados de las cuencas sedimentarias del Terciario Tardío de la Faja Volcánica Transmexicana, p. 85–95. In Carranza-Castañeda, O. and Córdoba-Méndez, D. (eds.), Avances en Investigación, Paleontología de Vertebrados. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Publicación Especial 1.Google Scholar
Carranza-Castañeda, O. and Miller, W. E. 2000. Selected late Cenozoic vertebrate localities in the states of Hidalgo and Guanajuato, Mexico, p. 1–48. In Carranza-Castañeda, O. (ed.), Guide Book of the Field Trips, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, 60th Annual Meeting, Mexico City. Avances en Investigación. Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, Special Publication.Google Scholar
Carranza-Castañeda, O. and Miller, W. E. 2002. Inmigrantes sudamericanos en las faunas del Terciario tardío del centro de México, p. 69–81. In Montellano-Ballesteros, M. and Arroyo-Cabrales, J. (coord.), Avances en los estudios paleomastozoológicos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Colección Científica, México D. F. Google Scholar
Carranza-Castañeda, O. and Miller, W. E. 2004. Late Tertiary terrestrial mammals from Central Mexico and their relationship to South American immigrants. Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia, 7:249–261.10.4072/rbp.2004.2.19Google Scholar
Carranza-Castañeda, O., Petersen, M. S., and Miller, W. E. 1994. Preliminary investigation of the geology of the northern San Miguel de Allende Area, Northeastern Guanajuato, México. Brigham Young University Geology Studies, 40:1–9.Google Scholar
Cope, E. D. 1893. A preliminary report on the vertebrate paleontology of the Llano Estacado. 4th Annual Report Geological Survey Texas. 137 p.Google Scholar
Cragin, F. W. 1892. Observations on llama remains from Colorado and Kansas. American Geologist, 9:257–260.Google Scholar
Dalquest, W. W. 1975. Vertebrate fossils from the Blanco Local Fauna of Texas. Occasional Papers, The Museum, Texas Tech University 30, 52 p.10.5962/bhl.title.142927Google Scholar
Dalquest, W. W. 1992. Problems in the nomenclature of North American Pleistocene camelids. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 28:291–299.Google Scholar
Dompierre, H. and Churcher, C. S. 1996. Premaxillary shape as an indicator of the diets of seven extinct late Cenozoic New World camels. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 16:141–148.10.1080/02724634.1996.10011292Google Scholar
Eisenberg, F. J. 1990. The behavioral/ecological significance of body size in the Mammalia, p. 25–37. In Damuth, J. and MacFadden, B. J. (eds.), Body size in mammalian paleobiology. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Faunmap Working Group. 1994. A database documenting late Quaternary distributions of mammal species in the United States. Illinois State Museum, Scientific Papers, 25:1–690.Google Scholar
Feranec, R. S. 2003. Stable isotopes, hypsodonty and the paleodiet of Hemiauchenia (Mammalia: Camelidae) a morphological specialization creating ecological generalization. Paleobiology, 29:230–242.10.1666/0094-8373(2003)029<0230:SIHATP>2.0.CO;22.0.CO;2>Google Scholar
Ferrusquia-Villafranca, I. 2003. Mexico's Middle Miocene mammalian assemblages: an overview. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 279:321–347.Google Scholar
Flynn, J. J., Kowallis, B. J., Nuñez, C., Carranza-Castañeda, O., Miller, W. E., Swisher, C. C. III, and Lindsay, E. 2005. Geochronology of Hemphillian-Blancan aged strata, Guanajuato, México and implications for timing of the Great American Biotic Interchange. Journal of Geology, 113:287–307.10.1086/428806Google Scholar
Frick, C. 1921. Extinct vertebrate faunas of the badlands of Bautista Creek and San Timoteo Canyon, Southern California. University of California Publications, Bulletin of the Department of Geology, 12:277–424.Google Scholar
Frick, C. 1929. History of the Earth. Childs Frick Tertiary-Quaternary Explorations. National History, 29:106–108.Google Scholar
Gazin, C. L. 1942. The late Cenozoic vertebrate faunas from the San Pedro Valley, Arizona. U. S. National Museum Proceedings, 92:475–518.Google Scholar
Gervais, H. and Ameghino, F. 1880. Les mammiferes fossils de l'Amerique du Sur. Library F. Sary, Paris, 255 p.10.5962/bhl.title.61646Google Scholar
Gray, J. E. 1821. On the natural arrangement of vertebrose animals. London Medical Repository, 15:296–310.Google Scholar
Harrison, J. A. 1979. Revision of the Camelinae (Artiodactyla, Tylopoda) and a description of the new genus Alforjas . University of Kansas Paleontological Contributions, 95:1–20.Google Scholar
Harrison, J. A. 1985. Giant camels from the Cenozoic of North America. Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology, 57:1–29.10.5479/si.00810266.57.1Google Scholar
Hibbard, C. W. and Riggs, E. S. 1949. Upper Pliocene vertebrates from Keefe Canyon, Meade County, Kansas. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 60:829–860.10.1130/0016-7606(1949)60[829:UPVFKC]2.0.CO;2Google Scholar
Honey, J. G. 2004. Taxonomic utility of sequential wear patterns in some fossil camelids: comparison of three Miocene taxa. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Bulletin, 36:43–62.Google Scholar
Honey, J. G., Harrison, A. J., Prothero, D. R., and Stevens, M. S. 1998. Camelidae, p. 439–462. In Janis, C. M., Scott, K. M., and Jacobs, L. L. (eds.), Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. V. 1, Carnivores, ungulates and ungulate-like mammals. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Hulbert, R. C. and Webb, S. D. 2001. Mammalia 5: Artiodactyls, p. 242–279. In Hulbert, R. C. (ed.), The fossil vertebrates of Florida. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Illiger, C. 1811. Prodromus systematis mammalium et avium additis terminis zoographicis utriud classis. C. Salfeld, Berlin, 301 p.Google Scholar
Janis, C. M. 1990. Correlation of cranial and dental variables with body size in ungulates and macropodids, p. 255–299. In Damuth, J. and MacFadden, B. J. (eds.), Body size in mammalian paleobiology. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Janis, C. M., Scott, K. M., and Jacobs, L. L. (eds.). 1998. Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America. Volume 1: Terrestrial carnivores, ungulates and ungulate-like mammals. Cambridge University Press, New York, 691 p.Google Scholar
Jimenez-Hidalgo, E. and Carranza-Castañeda, O. 2002. First Pliocene record of Hemiauchenia blancoensis (Mammalia, Camelidae) in Mexico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 22(3), Supp. 71A.Google Scholar
Jimenez-Hidalgo, I., Ferrusquía-Villafranca, E., and Bravo-Cuevas, V. M. 2002. El registro mastofaunístico miocénico de México y sus implicaciones geológico-paleontológicas, p. 47–68. In Montellano-Ballesteros, M. and Arroyo-Cabrales, J. (coord.), Avances en los Estudios Paleomastozoológicos en México. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Serie Arqueología.Google Scholar
Jimenez-Hidalgo, E., Carranza-Castañeda, O., and Montellano-Ballesteros, M. 2004. A Pliocene record of Capromeryx (Mammalia: Antilocapridae) in México. Journal of Paleontology, 78:1179–1186.10.1666/0022-3360(2004)078<1179:APROCM>2.0.CO;22.0.CO;2>Google Scholar
Jiménez-Hidalgo, E. and Carranza-Castañeda, O. 2005. Hemphillian camelids and protoceratids from San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato state, central Mexico. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 25(3), Supp. 75A.Google Scholar
Jiménez-Hidalgo, E. and Carranza-Castañeda, O. 2006. The early Blancan camelids from San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, central México. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26(3), Supp. 82A.Google Scholar
Jiménez-Hidalgo, E. and Guerrero-Arenas, R. 2006. Camellos en América del Norte. Revista QCómo Ves?, 94:16–19.Google Scholar
Kowallis, B. J., Swisher, C. C. III, Carranza-Castañeda, O., Miller, W. E., and Tingey, G. D. 1998. Fission-track and single crystal 40Ar/39Ar laser-fusion ages from volcanic ash layers in fossil-bearing Pliocene sediments in Central México. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Geológicas, 15:157–160.Google Scholar
Lambert, W. D. 2006. Functional convergence of ecosystems: Evidence from body mass distributions of North American Late Miocene Mammal faunas. Ecosystems, 9:97–118.10.1007/s10021-005-0076-8Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1854. On Bison latifrons, Arctodus pristinus, Hippodon speciosus, and Merycodus sabulonis . Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 7:89–90 Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1858. Notice of remains of extinct Vertebrata from the valley of the Niobrara River, collected during the exploring expedition of 1857 in Nebraska, under the command of Lieut. G. K. Warren, U.S. Top. Eng., by Dr. F. V. Hayden, geologist of the expedition. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 10:20–29.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1873. Contributions to the extinct vertebrate fauna of the Western Territories. U.S. Geological Survey of the Territories Report, 1:14–358.Google Scholar
Leidy, J. 1886. Mastodon and llama from Florida. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 1886:11–12.Google Scholar
Linnaeus, C. A. 1758. Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordine, genera, species, cum characteribus, differetiis, synonymis, locis. 1:Regnum animale. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii, Stockholm, 824 p.Google Scholar
Loring, S. T. and Wood, A. E. 1969. Deciduous premolars of some North American Tertiary Camels (Family Camelidae). Journal of Paleontology, 43:1199–1209.Google Scholar
Lundelius, E. L., Downs, T., Lindsay, E. H., Semken, H. A., Zakrzewski, R. J., Churcher, C. S., Harington, C. R., Schultz, G. E., and Webb, S. D. 1987. The North American Quaternary sequence, p. 211–235. In Woodburne, M. O. (ed.), Cenozoic Mammals of North America. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
MacDonald, J. R. 1956. A new Clarendonian mammalian fauna from the Truckee Formation of western Nevada. Journal of Paleontology, 30:186–202.Google Scholar
MacFadden, B. J. and Cerling, T. 1996. Mammalian herbivore communities, ancient feeding ecology, and carbon isotopes: a 10-million-year sequence from the Neogene of Florida. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 16:103–115.Google Scholar
Maiorana, V. C. 1990. Evolutionary strategies and body size in a guild of mammals, p. 69–102. In Damuth, J. and MacFadden, B. J. (eds.), Body size in mammalian paleobiology. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Matthew, W. D. 1909. Faunal list of the Tertiary Mammalia of the West. U. S. Geological Survey Bulletin, 361:91–138.Google Scholar
Matthew, W. D. and Cook, H. J. 1909. A Pliocene fauna from western Nevada. American Museum of Natural History Bulletin, 26:361–414.Google Scholar
Meachen, J. 2003. A new species of Hemiauchenia (Camelidae: Lamini) from the Plio-Pleistocene of Florida. Unpublished M.Sc. dissertation, University of Florida, 57 p.Google Scholar
Meachen, J. 2005. A new species of Hemiauchenia (Artiodactyla, Camelidae) from the Late Blancan of Florida. Florida Museum of Natural History Bulletin, 45:435–447.Google Scholar
Meade, G. E. 1945. The Blanco Fauna. University of Texas Publications, 4401:509–556.Google Scholar
Mendoza, M., Janis, CH. M., and Palmqvist, P. 2006. Estimating the body mass of extinct ungulates: a study on the use of multiple regression. Journal of Zoology, 270:90–101.10.1111/j.1469-7998.2006.00094.xGoogle Scholar
Miller, W. E. 1980. The Late Pliocene Las Tunas Local Fauna from Southernmost Baja California, Mexico. Journal of Paleontology, 54:762–805.Google Scholar
Montellano, M. 1989. Pliocene Camelidae of Rancho El Ocote, Central Mexico. Journal of Mammalogy, 70:359–369.Google Scholar
Montellano-Ballesteros, M. and Jimenéz-Hidalgo, E. 2006. Mexican fossil mammals, who, where and when? p. 249–273. In Vega Vera, F., Torrey, G. N., Perrillat, M. C., Montellano-Ballesteros, M., Cevallos-Ferriz, S. R. S., and Quiroz-Barroso, S. (eds.), Studies on Mexican Paleontology, Topics in Geobiology 24. Springer, Dordrecht.10.1007/1-4020-3985-9_12Google Scholar
Mooser, O. and Dalquest, W. W., 1975a. A new species of camel (Genus Camelops) from the Pleistocene of Aguascalientes, Mexico. The Southwestern Naturalist, 19:341–345.Google Scholar
Mooser, O. and Dalquest, W. W., 1975b. Pleistocene Mammals from Aguascalientes, Central Mexico. Journal of Mammalogy, 56:781–820.10.2307/1379653Google Scholar
Morgan, G. S. and Lucas, S. G. 2003. Mammalian Biochronology of Blancan and Irvingtonian (Pliocene and Early Pleistocene) faunas from New Mexico. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 279:269–320.Google Scholar
Morgan, G. S. and White, R. S. 2005. Miocene and Pliocene Vertebrates from Arizona, p. 115–136. In Heckert, A. B. and Lucas, S. G. (eds.), Vertebrate Paleontology in Arizona. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 29.Google Scholar
Owen, R. 1848. Description of teeth and portions of jaws of two extinct anthracotherioid quadrupeds (Hyopotamys vectianus and Hyopotamys bovinus) discovered by the Marchioness of Hasting in the Eocene deposits on the N.W. coast of the Island of Wright: with an attempt to develope Cuvier's idea of the classification of pachyderms by the number of their toes. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 4:103–141.10.1144/GSL.JGS.1848.004.01-02.21Google Scholar
Scott, K. M. 1990. Postcranial dimensions of ungulates as predictors of body mass, p. 301–335. In Damuth, J. and MacFadden, B. J. (eds.), Body size in mammalian paleobiology. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Thomson, M. E. and White, R. S. 2003. Late Cenozoic camelids (Mammalia: Artiodactyla) from Graham County, Arizona. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 23(3), Supp. 23A.Google Scholar
Thomson, M. E. and White, R. S. 2004. Getting over the hump: Blancan records of Camelops from North America, with special reference to Hagerman, Idaho, and the 111 Ranch, Arizona. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, 36(5):54.Google Scholar
Voorhies, M. R. and Corner, R. G. 1986. Megatylopus(?) cochrani (Mammalia: Camelidae): a re-evaluation. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 6:65–75.10.1080/02724634.1986.10011599Google Scholar
Wang, X. and Carranza-Castañeda, O. 2008. Earliest hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus (Mephitidae, Carnivora), from early Pliocene of Guanajuato, Mexico and origin of South American skunks. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 154:386–407.Google Scholar
Webb, S. D. 1965. The osteology of Camelops. Los Angeles County Museum Bulletin, (science: number 1):1–54.Google Scholar
Webb, S. D. 1974, Pleistocene llamas of Florida, with a brief review of the Lamini, p. 170–213. In Webb, S. D. (ed.), Pleistocene Mammals of Florida. The University Presses of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Webb, S. D. 1985. Late Cenozoic mammal dispersals between the Americas, p. 357–386. In Stehli, F. G. and Webb, S. D. (eds.), The great American biotic interchange. Plenum, New York.10.1007/978-1-4684-9181-4_14Google Scholar
Webb, S. D. 1997. The Great American Faunal Interchange, p. 97–122. In Coates, A. G. (ed.), Central America; a Natural and Cultural History. Yale University Press, Newhaven.Google Scholar
Webb, S. D. and Meachen, J. 2004. On the origin of Lamine Camelidae including a new genus from the Late Miocene of the High Plains. Carnegie Museum of Natural History Bulletin, 36:349–362.Google Scholar
Webb, S. D., Hulbert, R. C., Morgan, G. S., and Evans, H. E. 2008. Terrestrial mammals of the Palmetto Fauna (early Pliocene, latest Hemphillian) from the central Florida phosphate district. Natural History Museum Los Angeles County Science Series, 41:293–312.Google Scholar
White, R. S. and Morgan, G. S. 2005. Arizona Blancan vertebrate faunas in regional persepective, p. 117–138. In McCord, R. D. (ed.), Arizona Vertebrate Paleontology. Mesa Southwest Museum Bulletin 11.Google Scholar
Woodburne, M. O., Cione, A. L., and Tonni, E. P. 2006. Central American Provincialism and the Great American Biotic Interchange, p. 73–101. In Carranza-Castañeda, O. and Lindsay, E. H. (eds.), Advances in late Tertiary vertebrate paleontology in Mexico and the Great American Biotic Interchange. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Geología and Centro de Geociencias, Publicación Especial 4.Google Scholar