The oldest record of South American bats

Abstract

A new Paleogene mammal fauna was recently recovered in northwestern Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina. The mammal-bearing strata belong to the Middle Chubut River volcanic-pyroclastic complex, of Paleocene-Eocene age. The site, named Laguna Fría, is about 50 km west of the town of Paso del Sapo, on the property of Estancia San Ramón, and has produced hundreds of vertebrate fossils, especially mammals. Among the Laguna Fría taxa, there are several species referable to almost all the South American marsupial orders, including Peradectia (Peradectidae, Caroloameghiniidae), Sparassodonta (Borhyaenidae), Microbiotheria (Microbiotheriidae), Polydolopimorphia (Glasbiidae, Gashterniidae, Polydolopidae), Didelphimorphia (Protodidelphidae, Derorhynchidae, Sternbergiidae), and Paucituberculata (family indet.). Also, dasypodid xenarthrans are represented, as well as several orders of South American ‘ungulates’ such as ‘condylarths,’ litopterns, notopterns, notoungulates, and astrapotheres. However, a remarkable new occurrence is the oldest record of bats for South America, described herein. The specimens are deposited in the paleontological collection of the LIEB (Laboratorio de Investigaciones en Evolución y Biodiversidad), Facultad de Ciencias Naturales, Sede Esquel, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia “San Juan Bosco”