How to translate text using browser tools
1 May 2015 Elephant Seal (Mirounga sp.) from The Pleistocene of the Antofagasta Region, Northern Chile
Ana M. Valenzuela-Toro, Carolina S. Gutstein, Mario E. Suárez, Rodrigo Otero, Nicholas D. Pyenson
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

The genus Mirounga is the largest living member of the Phocidae family (true seals) and includes two species: M. angustirostris and M. leonina. These species exhibit a noticeable antitropical distribution in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, respectively. The evolutionary history of elephant seals, especially in regard to establishing this antitropical pattern, is poorly known. Nearly all fossils of the genus are isolated remains from the Pleistocene of California (M. angustirostris) and South Africa (M. leonina). Here, we describe new fossil material of Mirounga sp. (incomplete maxilla, dentary, and humerus), from the middle to late Pleistocene of Antofagasta Region, northern Chile. This material constitutes the first fossil occurrence of this species in South America and suggests that during part of the Pleistocene, phocids coexisted with otariids along the eastern edge of the South Pacific Ocean, which contrasts with the current biogeographic pattern in this ocean basin, providing new information about the structure of the pinniped community during the Pleistocene of South America.

© by the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Ana M. Valenzuela-Toro, Carolina S. Gutstein, Mario E. Suárez, Rodrigo Otero, and Nicholas D. Pyenson "Elephant Seal (Mirounga sp.) from The Pleistocene of the Antofagasta Region, Northern Chile," Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 35(3), (1 May 2015). https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2014.918883
Received: 16 September 2013; Accepted: 1 April 2014; Published: 1 May 2015
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top