Cenozoic batoids from Contamana (Peruvian Amazonia) with focus on freshwater potamotrygonins and their paleoenvironmental significance

Jules Chabain, Pierre Olivier Antoine, Ali J. Altamirano-Sierra, Laurent Marivaux, François Pujos, Rodolfo Salas Gismondi, Sylvain Adnet

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Among the Potamotrygoninae subfamily and in addition to the middle Eocene Potamotrygon ucayalensis found in oldest levels, three new fossil species of Potamotrygon, namely P. contamanensis nov. sp., P. canaanorum nov. sp., and P. rajachloeae nov. sp. are described from late Oligocene-late Miocene deposits along the Quebrada Cachiyacu, near Contamana, Peru. These new fossils fill a substantial gap in the sporadic fossil record of this exclusive freshwater elasmobranch subfamily, native to South America, thereby highlighting their ancient biological and ecological diversity. In the absence of sharks, the occurrence of obligate freshwater potamotrygonins, along with additional marine to brackish batoids from nine successive fossiliferous levels, supports the predominance of fluvio-lacustrine environments in that region throughout the considered period, with a peak of marine influence around the middle-late Miocene transition, as recorded in other areas of Western Amazonia.
Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)389-400
Number of pages12
JournalGeobios
Volume50
Issue number5-6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2017

Keywords

  • Batoidea
  • Cenozoic
  • Chondrichthyes
  • Paleoecology
  • Paleoenvironment
  • Peruvian Amazonia
  • Potamotrygoninae

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