El registro más antiguo del género Bothrops (Serpentes, Viperidae), proveniente del Pleistoceno inferior a medio de Argentina

• Autores: Carlos Agustín Scanferla, Santiago J. Nenda
• Localización: Revista del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales, ISSN-e 1853-0400, ISSN 1514-5158, Vol. 7, Nº. 2, 2005, págs. 177-181
• Idioma: español
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• Resumen

  • The oldest record of the genus Bothrops (Serpentes-Viperidae), from the Early to MiddlePleistocene of Argentina. The genus Bothrops has 32 living species distributed in the Neotropic. However,the fossil record of this serpent restricts to a specimen of B. alternatus found in the archaeological site CuevaTixi (Upper Pleistocene-Holocene), Buenos Aires Province. Here we add a new record of Bothrops sp. excavatedfrom sediments attributed to the Ensenada Formation (Early to Middle Pleistocene), exposed at José Hernandezlocality, La Plata, Buenos Aires. The fossil is found 1,5 m. below the boundary betwen Matuyama and Brunhespolarity zones, thus corresponding to the Jaramillo Subchron (i.e., 0,915-1,01 million years before present). Thespecimen consists of an incomplete right compound bone, that exhibits features of Bothrops (e.g., mandibularfossae transversally and longitudinally wide; prearticular crest with a notable development compared with thesurangular crest). The new specimen suggests that Bothrops entered South America more than 1 million yearsago, an evidence that is in agreement with DNA information.