Carolina Acosta HospitalecheUniversidad Nacional de La Plata | UNLP · División de Paleontología de Vertebrados
Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche
PhD
Researcher CONICET,; Profesor of Principles of Paleontology and Vertebrate Paleontology (La Plata National University)
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Introduction
Carolina Acosta Hospitaleche currently works at the División de Paleontología de Vertebrados, National University of La Plata. Carolina does research in Paleontology, Paleobiology and Anatomy. Her project involves the study of Cretaceous and Cenozoic birds from Antarctica and South America, and includes colleagues from La Plata Museum and other institutions, and also Ph.D. and undergraduate students.
Publications
Publications (181)
Book Review Montes, M.; Nozal, F.; Olivero, E.; Gallastegui, G.; Santillana, S.; Maestro, A.; López-Martínez, J.; González, L. and Martín-Serrano, A. (2019). Geología y Geomorfología de isla Marambio (Seymour). (Montes, M.; Nozal F. y Santillana, S., Eds.). Serie Cartográfica Geocientífica Antártica; 1:20.000, 1ª edición. Acompañado de mapas. Madri...
The vertebral column in tetrapods consists of several constant regions, namely the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and caudal regions. Each of these regions is characterized by a specific number of vertebrae, contributing to the overall vertebral formula. Supernumerary and/or missing vertebrae have only been sporadically mentioned for penguins,...
The worldwide record of Cretaceous Neornithes and Neornithine-like birds is both controversial and poorly understood. However, in recent years, the Antarctic continent has yielded a substantial number of Maastrichtian avian specimens, contributing significantly to our understanding of the early evolution of this group. Simultaneously, the keen inte...
Two ungual phalanges attributed to large birds were collected in the Ypresian (early Eocene) levels of the Cucullaea Allomember (Submeseta Formation). Both materials were found in localities in proximity on Seymour Island in West Antarctica. The pronounced curvature, considerable size robustness, and the extension of the flexor tubercle provide com...
Phorusrhacidae, commonly known as terror birds, constitutes a group of Cariamiformes that lived mainly in South America during the Cenozoic. The oldest record is represented by an isolated distal end of tibiotarsus (MLP-PV 75-II-3-22) discovered in the Lutetian (middle Eocene) levels of the Sarmiento Formation exposed in the Cañadón Vaca locality (...
Resumen de una presentación oral de las sesiones generales de la RCAPA 2023.
The bone texture of Rhea americana was evaluated through the examination of a postnatal ontogenetic series. The hind limb bone surfaces of specimens of one, three and five months old, and adults were compared to characterize each stage according to the morphological features generated by their differential ossification. The results suggest a simila...
Describimos el molde endocraneano de una stem-Neornithes cretácica de Isla Marambio (Antártida Argentina) e incluimos comparaciones con otras Aves mesozoicas.
Los diversos afloramientos de La Venta (desierto de la Tatacoa) en Colombia son de gran importancia para analizar la estructura ecológica de los ecosistemas del Mioceno medio en el norte de Suramérica. Esta región ha sido ampliamente estudiada, derivando en diversos hallazgos de vertebrados como mamíferos, tortugas, caimanes y peces óseos. Sin emba...
Osteohistological studies allow us to obtain valuable information on different aspects related to the bone microstructure, physiology and ecology of organisms. Although the anatomy and morphology of penguin bones are well known, studies in osteohistology are still insufficient. In order to analyze the osteohistological variations between male and f...
The Pelagornithidae are an extinct group of soaring birds that lived all over the world between the early Palaeocene and the Pliocene-Pleistocene and are characterised by the presence of hollow denticles along the tomial edges formed by the expansion of the premaxillary, maxillary, and dentary bones. The presence of distinctive sulci in the upper a...
The distal end of a left ulna found in the southeastern margin of the Somún Curá Plateau, Chubut Province (Argentina), was collected from the Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) of the La Colonia Formation. Based on the torsion and the cylindrical section of the shaft, the complete development of both condyles, and the distal extension of the tubercul...
A new cranium of penguin from the Late Miocene of the Bahía Inglesa Formation (Northern Chile) is described here. Specimen SGO.PV.22245 exhibits a unique combination of characters that suggests it belongs to a new species of either Eudypula Bonaparte, 1856, Spheniscus Brisson, 1760, or more probably to a more basal taxon related to them. The specim...
To analyze the osteohistological variations between adult individuals of Pygoscelis adeliae , histological sections of the mid-level of the shaft of different bones (humerus, radius, ulna, carpometacarpus, femur, tibiotarsus, tarsometatarsus and ribs) of a female and a male, were compared. The results indicate that, at the microanatomical level, th...
Trace elements, particularly rare earth elements (REE), are widely used as proxies to reconstruct paleoenvironmental and taphonomic conditions. We traced these elements in fossil penguin bones collected along the Paleogene sequence exposed in Seymour Island (=Isla Marambio) to test them as indicators of the tectonic changes to which this region was...
Abandoned rookeries belonging to any of the Pygoscelis species are very particular taphocoenosis, usually preserved due to the accumulations of bones, pebbles, and guano year after year in the same nesting area, that condense together with other biogenic material and form ornithogenic sediments. The results of the excavation, sieved and analyses of...
Los estudios osteohistológicos permiten obtener información valiosa sobre distintos aspectos relacionados con la microanatomía, fisiología y ecología de los organismos. Si bien la anatomía y morfología ósea de los pingüinos es bien conocida, son escasos los estudios en osteohistología. Con el objetivo de analizar las variaciones osteohistológicas e...
A tibiotarsus (MACN-A 12195) collected by Ameghino in the Sarmiento Formation (Eocene–lower Miocene) outcropping in the ‘Río Chico locality’ (Chubut Province, Argentina) assigned to Diogenornis (Rheiformes, Palaeognathae), and a second limb bone (MPEF-PV 1411) from early Miocene levels of the Sarmiento Formation in Bryn Gwyn (Chubut Province, Argen...
The present contribution is motivated by the frequent occurrence of traces generated by lichens on the fossil record, the usual and erroneous attribution of them to plant roots, and the scarce information published about bioerosive damage caused by lichens. As a result, two different patterns were identified on the surface and inside the fossil bon...
The Snow Hill Island Formation (SHIF; late Campanian-early Maastrichtian) crops out in the northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula and constitutes the basal part of the late Campanian-early Maastrichtian sedimentary succession of the James Ross Basin (NG Sequence). Its major exposures occur at the James Ross and Vega islands. Several fossil-bearing lo...
Despite its current low diversity, the penguin clade (Sphenisciformes) is one of the groups of birds with the most complete fossil record. Likewise, from the evolutionary point of view, it is an interesting group given the adaptations developed for marine life and the extreme climatic occupation capacity that some species have shown. In the present...
The Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri), the largest extant penguin, inhabits exclusively in Antarctica. Little is known about the spine of this species; this work presents a description of the vertebral column of an adult of A. forsteri, compared with specimens from different ontogenetic stages (chick, fledgling, and juvenile). We also analyze...
A comprehensive overview of all the South American and Antarctic fossil records of Rheiformes and close relatives, accompanied by updated stratigraphic data, is provided here. Fossil rheas are represented by fragmentary remains of hindlimb bones and several footprints that include paleospecies, extinct representatives of the living species as well...
HISTORY OF THE PALEORNITHOLOGICAL STUDIES IN THE MUSEO DE LA PLATA. The first studies on fossil birds in the Museo de La Plata were carried out since the last decade of the 19th century. These were isolated studies, which did not increase their frequency or intensity until the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, an increasing amount and them...
We examined a set of penguin bones from different Eocene levels of the Submeseta Formation in Marambio/Seymour Island (James Ross Basin, Antarctic Peninsula) and found the bioerosive traces fossils presented here. Traces were assigned to ?Machichnus bohemicus, Machichnus indeterminate, Nihilichnus nihilicus, Centrichnidae indeterminate, and other a...
A large part of the Antarctic surface is covered by lichens since they can withstand extreme environmental conditions. Lichens are primary colonizers and contribute to soil formation by deteriorating rocks through a combination of chemical and physical mechanisms. Therefore, fossil remains found exposed on the surface are usually colonized by epili...
La mayor parte de los pingüinos fósiles registrados en la Argentina fueron exhumados de los sedimentos del “Patagoniano”, hoy referidos a la Formación San Julián (Eoceno superior-Oligoceno inferior), Formación Monte León y Formación Gaiman (Mioceno inferior) y sólo unos pocos fueron hallados en la Formación Puerto Madryn (Mioceno superior). Recient...
A right carpometacarpus (MLP 10-XII-11-1) from the early Miocene Gaiman Formation was collected in the fossiliferous locality Bryn Gwyn (Chubut Province, Argentina). After extensive comparisons with extinct and extant species, and geometric morphometric analyses, we concluded that it belongs to Procellariidae. It is supported by the presence of sul...
We report the first avian bone collected in the Late Pleistocene Dolores Formation, which crops out near Colonia city. The fossil was identified as a femur belonging to an Anatidae that represents the second Anseriform from Uruguay. Two bioerosive traces found on this fossil consist of borings of different sizes and depths were probably occasioned...
Dos restos aislados de aves fororracoideas fueron recientemente exhumados de los sedimentos de la Formación Sarmiento de edad Mustersense (Eoceno Superior) en la localidad fosilífera de Gran Hondonada en la provincia de Chubut, Argentina. Ambos restos, una falange ungueal del segundo dígito izquierdo (MEF PV-1721) y un tarsometatarso derecho sin su...
Vegavis iaai has key importance as the most complete of the few neornithine birds known from the Cretaceous, yet its phylogenetic relationships remain controversial. To seek new data to resolve this problem, we fully extracted the skeleton of the holotype MLP 93-I-3-1 from the sedimentary matrix it had been found in to enable new direct observation...
Aves, Spheniscidae) en Coquimbo (Mio-ceno Medio-Plioceno Tardío), Chile, y su vinculación con las corrientes oceánicas. [Penguins (Aves, Sphenisci-dae) in Coquimbo (Middle Miocene-Late Pliocene), Chile, and their relationship with the Ocean currents.] Re-vista Española de Paleontología, 21 (2), 115-121. ISSN 0213-6937. ABSTRACT Two remains of pengu...
Spheniscus urbinai represents one of four extinct Spheniscus species from the Cenozoic
of southern South America, known from several poorly described diversely complete
skulls and postcranial elements. Here, we present a review of the cranial osteology of
all known specimens (collected in Argentina, Chile, and Peru), including a paleoneurological
a...
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Ancient proteomics is being applied to samples dating further and further back in time, with many palaeontological specimens providing protein sequence data for phylogenetic analysis as well as protein degradation studies. However, fossils are a precious material and proteomic analysis is destructive and costly. In this paper we consider three diff...
The James Ross Basin, at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, contains a unique Cretaceous-Tertiary sedimentary succession. The Paleogene sequence exposed in Marambio/Seymour Island has resulted highly fossiliferous, and among vertebrates, birds are one of the best represented groups. Fossil avifauna includes penguins, albatrosses, petrels,...
We examine three avian remains from the Última Esperanza cave complex. This site is a Natural Monument situated along the flanks of Cerro Benítez, Magallanes Region of Chile. A tarsometatarsus (MLP 94-VIII-10-12) is assigned to Rhea pennata, and a humerus (MLP 94-VIII-10-111) to Phalacrocorax brasilianus. Both, R. pennata and P. brasilianus, are cu...
An articulated wing belonging to Palaeeudyptes gunnari containing mineralized skin was found in Lutetian (middle Eocene) sediments from Seymour Island, Antarctica. It shows the connective tissues, morphology and density of the feather follicles, and a groove pattern left by the feather calami resting on the skin. Analysis of the preserved surfaces...
We discuss the potential use of the mandibulosphenoidal joint structures to interpret the diet and trophic habits of penguins, albatrosses, and petrels. For this purpose, several species of these phylogenetically related groups, whose diet and feeding strategies are already known, were selected. After comparisons, we conclude that: 1-the efficiency...
Se denomina articulación secundaria de la mandíbula al contacto entre los processus medialis parasphenoidalis (pmp) de la lamina parasphenoidalis (lp) y la facies articularis parasphenoidalis del processus medialis mandibulae. Esta articulación evita la dislocación de la mandíbula ante movimientos disruptivos y/o debido al deficiente desarrollo de...
We describe a partial skeleton from the lowest Maastrichtian levels of the Snow Hill Island Formation (Vega Island, West Antarctica). Because of the anatomical differences with the Antarctic Vegavis iaai and Polarornis gregorii, this fossil is recognized here as a new genus and species. The results of our phylogenetic analysis suggest that A. capel...
The fossil record of birds from Antarctica is concentrated in the James Ross Basin, located in northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Birds are here represented by an extensive Paleogene record of penguins (Sphenisciformes) and Cretaceous-Paleogene record of Anseriformes, followed by other groups with a minor representation (Procellariiformes, Falco...
Oceanites oceanicus (Procellariiformes, Hydrobatidae), commonly known as Wilson’s storm-petrel, is a small seabird frequenting the South Atlantic Ocean during the austral summer. Although a number of adaptations (such as the development of salt glands, two long and tubular external nostrils, an extraordinary olfactory system, and a hooked bill cove...
Associated penguin remains found in Bartonian levels of the Submeseta Formation (Seymour Island, Antarctica), including cranium and mandible, both partial tarsometatarsi, and some other fragmentary bones, are here analyzed. This specimen preserves the first cranium reliably assigned to the giant form Anthropornis grandis, and constitutes the first...
The Southern Giant Petrel Macronectes giganteus is the largest Procellariidae around the world. Beyond the most striking
features on the skull, the strong hooked bill with tubular, dorsally-placed, external nostrils, these petrels have been the focus
of diverse studies, except osteological ones. Even less is known about the osteology in juveniles a...
Dieciséis especies de pingüinos se han descripto para el Paleógeno de la Isla Marambio (Antártida), la mayor parte de ellas conocidas exclusivamente a partir del tarsometatarso. Lamentablemente, todos los cráneos previamente hallados en esta isla, carecen de elementos diagnósticos para una más acertada asignación sistemática. El ejemplar MLP 14-XI-...
Many contributions try to emphasize the similarities and differences between the Brown Skua Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi¸ and the South Polar Skua Catharacta maccormicki. Most of the morphological information of these species is based on field observation and referred to their external appearance. Few studies deal with their morphometry, mostly...
The emperor penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) is the largest extant penguin among living species breeding in winter, at Antarctic high latitudes. Despite several studies made on this species, musculature and skeletal anatomy are barely known, especially in non-adult specimens. To address this shortfall, dissections and comparative descriptions were ma...
A paddle-shaped wing, the general morphology of the humerus, and the muscles involved in wing movement are among the most characteristic adaptations to diving in penguins. Particularly, the humeral fossa tricipitalis and the musculus humerotriceps are clear examples of muscular rearrangement accompanying skeletal changes. In extant Spheniscidae, we...
Although penguins have a very abundant fossil record in Antarctica, very few cranial elements have been found so far, and in all the cases the specimens are incomplete. We describe a new cranium of a medium-sized penguin from the late Eocene Submeseta Formation in Marambio/ Seymour Island, Antarctica. Its morphology allows us to establish a common...
Synopsis Embryonic muscular activity (EMA) is involved in the development of several distinctive traits of birds. Modern avian diversity and the fossil record of the dinosaur-bird transition allow special insight into their evolution. Traits shaped by EMA result from mechanical forces acting at post-morphogenetic stages, such that genes often play...
The early explorer and scientist Otto Nordenskjöld, leader of the Swedish South Polar Expedition of 1901–1903, was the first to collect Antarctic penguin fossils. The site is situated in the northeastern region of Seymour Island and constitutes one of the most important localities in the study of fossilised penguins. The task of describing these sp...
A small humerus from Eocene levels of Seymour Island, Antarctica is assigned here to Aprosdokitos mikrotero sp. and gen. nov. (Aves, Sphenisciformes), based predominantly on its small size. An ontogenetic series based on Pygoscelis antartica was established for comparative purposes, and evaluation of pathological conditions was also carried out in...
New remains from the La Meseta (Thanetian – Lutetian) and Submeseta (Lutetian – Rupelian) formations (Seymour Island, Antarctica) are tentatively assigned to Diomedeidae and Procellariidae (Procellariiformes). Based on the fossil record and several analyses that attempt to explain the evolutionary patterns of Diomedeidae, Notoleptos giglii gen. et...
During December 2015 / February 2016, within the activities of the ―Vertebrate Paleontology of the James Ross Basin, Antarctic Peninsula‖ project of the Instituto Antártico Argentino, principal fossiliferous localities of Marambio (=Seymour) Island, northeast Antarctic Peninsula (marine late Cretaceous, K-Pg and Paleogene outcrops), and Cape Longin...
Acosta Hospitaleche, C. & Olivero, E., April 2016. Re-evaluation of the fossil penguin Palaeeudyptes gunnari from the Eocene Leticia Formation, Argentina: additional material, systematics and palaeobiology. Alcheringa 40, xx–xx. ISSN 0311-5518 Eocene penguins are known mostly from Antarctic specimens. A previously documented partial skeleton consis...
The Antarctic pelagornithid record is restricted to few isolated remains from the Eocene of Seymour Island in the Antarctic Peninsula. Here we report the oldest Antarctic pseudo-toothed bird. It is represented by an incomplete humerus lacking its proximal end, which comes from the lower Eocene levels of the La Meseta Formation (Seymour Island). Thi...
The new remains of Gaviiformes collected from the Maastrichtian Sandwich Bluff Member (López de Bertodano Formation in Vega Island), the Maastrichtian Klb 9 (López de Bertodano Formation in Seymour Island), the Maastrichtian Snow Hill Formation (Vega Island), and the Ypresian Submeseta Formation (Seymour Island), Antarctica, are described. A specia...
A new incomplete penguin skeleton is described herein. It is assigned to Palaeeudyptes klekowskii Myrcha, Tatur and Del Valle, a giant sphenisciform from the Priabonian Submeseta Formation in Marambio/Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Also provided is a paleobiological discussion derived from the morphology of this skeleton. A thorough descripti...
The purpose of this paper is to provide a taphonomic analysis of the holotype of Crossvallia unienwillia Tambussi, Reguero, Marenssi and Santillana, 2005, in order to improve the knowledge of the vertebrate record of the Cross Valley Formation, a unit exposed in the central area of Marambio (Seymour) Island, Antarctic Peninsula. Analyses of the pre...
Un tarsometatarsus et un humérus fragmenté d’énormes dimensions, récemment recueillis dans l’Éocène supérieur DPV 13/84 (niveau 38, Submeseta II) de la formation Submeseta de l’île Seymour (Marambio), péninsule Antarctique, ont été attribués à Palaeeudyptes klekowskii. Selon les estimations, le tarsometatarsus appartiendrait au manchot le plus gran...
The endocranial anatomy of Pygoscelis calderensis, a fossil species from the Bahı´a Inglesa Formation (Middle Miocene–Pliocene) of Chile, South America, was described through CT scans. Reconstructions of the fossil P. calderensis and endocasts for the living Pygoscelis adeliae, and Pygoscelis papua are provided here for the first time. Comparisons...
2014. Miocene Patagonian penguins: craniomandibular morphology and functional mechanics. Alcheringa 38, 273–280. ISSN 0311-5518. Fossil penguins (Aves, Spheniscidae) are widely recorded throughout the Southern Hemisphere and are especially well represented from the Eocene to present in Patagonia. There are currently three Miocene specimens that inc...
Redescribed and reinterpreted here is a partial skeleton of the oldest Antarctic penguin, Crossvallia unienwillia from the late Paleocene of Marambio (Seymour) Island. A thorough morphological analysis of limb bones (humerus, femur and tibiotarsus) allowed us to report both an amended reconstruction of type specimens and a revised taxonomic diagnos...
Antarctic skulls attributable to fossil penguins are rare. Three new penguin crania from Antarctica are here described providing an insight into their feeding function. One of the specimens studied is largely a natural endocast, slightly damaged, and lacking preserved osteological details. Two other specimens are the best preserved fossil penguin c...
Late Cretaceous sedimentary rocks are only exposed around the northern part of West Antarctica, on the South Shetland Islands and James Ross Island Group, Weddell Sea. They were deposited in very different tectonic settings and environments. The South Shetland Island sequence represents a Cenozoic outer-arc (Birkenmajer 1995) or fore-arc (Elliot 19...
West Antarctica is an ensemble of blocks that have moved independently of each other and of cratonic East Antarctica. The onset of Terra Australis orogenesis was responsible for the termination of passive margin sedimentation along the greater part of the Pacific margin of Gondwana and began a long-lived process of accretion that added much of the...
One of the most intriguing paleobiogeographical phenomena related to the final stage of Gondwanan breakup is the close similarities and, in most cases, inferred sister-group relationships, of a number of terrestrial and marine/coastal vertebrate taxa recovered from Paleogene deposits of West Antarctica with those from other continents (South Americ...
Defining species boundaries, due to morphological variation, often represents a significant challenge in paleozoology. In this paper we report results from multi- and univariate data analyses, such as enhanced clustering techniques, principal coordinates ordination method, kernel density estimations and finite mixture model analyses, revealing some...