Francisco Juan Prevosti

Museo de Ciencias Antropológicas y Naturales (UNLAR) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)

The southern Mendoza province, located in the northern region of Patagonia, was inhabited by hunter-gatherer groups until historic times. Previous archaeological studies have reported canid remains among faunal assemblages, which were assumed to be part of the human diet. However, the taxonomic identification and significance of these canids within...

Sanz-Pérez et al. (2024) recently, based on detrital zircon, presented new maximum depositional ages for several sites of the Neogene of central Argentina to constraint the age of the faunas studied with stable isotopes. Unfortunately , the precise provenance of the dated samples is not clear. In this comment, we discuss the absence of key basic in...

The Huayquerian Stage of the South American chronostratigraphic scheme (named for the Huayquerías del Este, Argentina) was originally based on a poorly known mammal association of six taxa from the Huayquerías Formation. We studied the geology, age and fauna of the Neogene sequence in this area, including the Huayquerías, Tunuyán and Bajada Grande...

Fossil vertebrates, especially mammals, of the Neogene–Quaternary of Central Argentina were fundamental to the construction of time and rock-time scales and the knowledge of the biotic evolution of southern South America. The poverty of fossiliferous localities constrained with radiometric and/or paleomagnetic data heavily complicated the correlati...

Santiago Roth (1850–1924) was a naturalist that collected and sold fossils from the Pampean region (Argentina) in Europe. Much of the specimens collected by Roth are hosted at the Paläontologisches Institut und Museum, Universität Zürich and Muséun D’Histoire Naturelle of Geneva in Switzerland, but were never studied. In this article, we review the...

INTRODUCCION al volumen tematico en homenaje a la trayectoria academica de Eduardo Pedro Tonni

Fossil records of canids are rare and incomplete in South America. In Chile, all well-identified taxa are part of the “South American Canid Clade” and come from sites located in southern Patagonia. Here, we report the first record for Chile of a taxon of the “Canis clade,” assigned to cf. Aenocyon dirus. The fossil remains consist of a partially co...

Durante el Pleistoceno, América del Sur tenía varios géneros y especies de grandes cánidos hipercarnívoros, los cuales se extinguieron completamente al final de esta época. En este trabajo se presenta una revisión sistemática exhaustiva del grupo (cuatro géneros y siete especies), sobre la base de nuevos análisis cladísticos que también contemplan...

Download: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1fYX0,rVDBbxFR The article presents an analysis of four canid skeletons recovered at the El Olivar archaeological site (Semi-arid North of Chile). The aims of the study were to determine their taxonomy and chronology, characterise their morphotypes and investigate their social status and possible functions...

Se presenta la caracterización de restos inéditos de perros (Canis lupus familiaris) del sitio Pucará de Tilcara (Provincia de Jujuy, Argentina), recuperados en dos contextos arqueológicos (Basural 1 y Acrópolis), que representan un NMI = 5. Los objetivos son definir su cronología, reconstruir su morfología e indagar sobre su estatus social y posib...

Sparassodonts were the apex mammalian predators of South America throughout most of the Cenozoic, diversifying into a wide array of niches including fox-like and even saber-toothed forms. Their extinction is still controversial, with different authors suggesting competition with other predators (placental carnivorans, terror birds, and carnivorous...

The Felidae entered South America from North America during the Ensenadan Stage/Age (early to middle Pleistocene). For Uruguay, their fossil record is scarce but informative, although mostly of them correspond to large size felids (Smilodon, Panthera onca). In the present contribution, skull and mandibular remains are assigned, based on anatomical...

In recent years, numerous archaeological remains of dogs (Canis familiaris) have been found in the Southern Cone of South America. In Patagonia, the pre‐Hispanic record was limited to the north of eastern Patagonia. This article presents dog specimens recovered at archaeological site GUA‐010 Conchal located in the western Patagonian channels of Chi...

Leopardus is a genus that, despite currently being widely distributed in South America, shows until now a fragmentary fossil record. Among Leopardus, L. pardalis is the largest species, having an historical range that includes tropical and subtropical habitats from southern U.S.A. to southern South America but, as usual in the ocelot lineage, fossi...

The vertebrate fossil record of the Pampean Region of Argentina occupies an important place in South American vertebrate paleontology. An abundance of localities has long been the main basis for constructing the chronostratigraphical/geochronological scale for the late Neogene–Quaternary of South America, as well as for understanding major patterns...

Although didelphid marsupials are considered to have a conservative body shape, they show a considerable amount of size variation. They also have different diets (from frugivore to animalivore), but none of the species are specialized. Didelphid marsupials also have a certain degree of specialization in vertical habitat use, from ground-dwellers to...

Understanding the interplay between morphological integration and modularity is considered an important topic in the study of the evolution of the form of complex structures. The mandible is a complex structure that can be shaped by diverse factors such as ontogeny, ecology, and evolutionary history. In canids, this is particularly interesting beca...

Two genera and multiple species of short-faced bear from the Americas went extinct during or toward the end of the Pleistocene, and all belonged to the endemic New World subfamily Tremarctinae. Two of these species were giants, growing in excess of 1,000 kg, but it remains uncertain how these extinct bears were related to the sole surviving short-f...

South American Canids are endemic and form a monophyletic clade supported by molecular and morphological data, with the exception of Urocyon cinereoargenteus, which is a typical North American form. South American canids occur in almost all environments in continent, and exhibit diet diversity and large size variation. Here we analyzed the skull on...

This work presents a detailed description of remains of dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) from the Pucará de Tilcara site (Jujuy Province, Argentina), which were recently recovered from two archaeological contexts (MNI = 5). The purpose of this article is to define the chronology and reconstruct the morphology of these dogs, as well as to inquire about...

We describe new avian remains from the lower levels of the Toro Negro Formation (~7-6 Ma, U–Pb), exposed in Quebrada de la Troya between Vinchina and Jagüé towns in La Rioja Province, Argentina. The Toro Negro Formation is composed of a thick continental sequence (~2.4 km) of sandstones, conglomerates and mudstones deposited in both fluvial and lac...

During the 1980s, a Pliocene canid from Baja California Sur, Mexico, was described as a new Cerdocyon species, C. avius. Whereas some investigators believe that C. avius was related to the origin of South American foxes of the tribe Cerdocyonina, others suggested that it is related to members of the tribe Vulpini. Our observations and analyses conf...

The Patagonian weasel, Lyncodon patagonicus, is one of the least known carnivorous species of South America. Specifically for La Rioja province, there are only two reports of the species that date from the beginning of the 20th century. We describe new records of this species for this province that corresponds to the first records of L. patagonicus...

Different living mammals have developed a carnivorous habit (e.g., Carnivora, Dasyuridae, Thylacinidae, some Didelphidae). They exhibit different specializations for carnivory; however, they share some characters such as a carnassial molar. Previous studies have correlated the shape of molars with diet using morphometric indices or surface scans. I...

Molar morphology is one of the most used proxies for paleoecological inferences in mammals. Since the 19th century, several authors associated some dental morphological traits with the diet of the animal by means of qualitative and descriptive analyses. Later on, since the last century, different studies of tooth function have associated various qu...

La mayoría de los depósitos neógenos en la región de Cuyo afloran en los piedemontes y cuencas intra- e intermontanas. En San Luis se han propuesto tres unidades sedimentarias pliocenas expuestas principalmente en las Serranías Occidentales y el piedemonte de la Sierra de San Luis. Son sucesiones silicoclásticas vinculadas a paleoambientes deposita...

En esta contribución se presentan nuevos restos de gliptodontes procedentes de las Huayquerías del Este, Mendoza, correspondientes a las Formaciones Huayquerías (edad U/Pb de 5,84 ± 0,41 Ma, Messiniano, Mioceno Tardío, fechado en los niveles medio-superiores) y Tunuyán (suprayacente a la anterior), los cuales se suman a los publicados originalmente...

The Great American Biotic Interchange is considered to be a punctuated process, primarily occurring during four major pulses that began approximately 2.5 Ma. Central America and southeastern Mexico have a poor fossil record of this dynamic faunal history due to tropical climates. Exploration of submerged caves in the Yucatán, particularly the natur...

South American foxes are included in the monophyletic genus Lycalopex, with several recent species. Here, the influence of environment about cranial size and shape variations of Lycalopex gymnocercus was explicitly addressed. 3D landmark-based methodology was used to acquire morphometric data. Each record locality was georeferenced and assigned bot...

There are three extant species of hog-nosed skunks widely distributed from North to South America, with a dubious number of fossil species. The oldest record comes from the early Pliocene of Mexico, while several Pleistocene species were registered from Argentina (Conepatus cordubensis, C. mercedensis and C. primaevus, plus C. altiramus with a dubi...

Site GNL Quintero 1 (GNLQ1), located nearshore at Quintero bay in the central coast of Chile (32� S), is the only documented Late Pleistocene drowned terrestrial site along the Pacific coast of South America. During the last decade, through underwater archaeological operations conducted at GNLQ1, several clusters of shallowly buried bone deposits w...

The Sparassodonta was a clade of mammalian predators that evolved in South America from the early Paleocene (?Tiupampan–Peligran) or early Eocene (Itaboraian) to the early Pliocene (Chapadmalalan). They were a monophyletic group of metatherians closely related to living marsupials (e.g., opossums and kangaroos). Diverse ecological niches presented...

The process by which successive groups using the same resources occupy the same geographic area through time is frequently attributed to competition. Several authors have argued that competitive displacement was the cause of the decline and extinction of Sparassodonta, due to the introduction of carnivorans into South America about 8–7 Ma, although...

Carnivora is a clade of mammalian predators that evolved in northern continents during the Paleocene, and since the Miocene have invaded the southern continents (i.e., Africa and South America). They evolved a large diversity and disparity of body forms and size, which allowed the occupation of many ecological niches. Carnivorans arrived in South A...

South America has a rich fossil record that allows the reconstruction of the continental communities during the Cenozoic. Florentino Ameghino was one of the earliest advocates of a temporal sequence of faunas and biogeographic events, later refined by several authors (e.g., George G. Simpson, Rosendo Pascual, Bryan Patterson). This scheme is contin...

The Earth experienced dramatic transformations during the Cenozoic, with changing sea levels, climate, and tectonic events having major influences on the global biota. In South America, loss of the connection between Patagonia and Antarctica, Andean orogeny, and formation of the Isthmus of Panama defined the continent, as we know it today. These ev...

This book summarizes the evolution of carnivorous mammals in the Cenozoic of South America. It presents paleontological information on the two main mammalian carnivorous groups in South America; Metatheria and Eutheria. The topics include the origin, systematics, phylogeny, paleoecology and evolution of the Sparassodonta and Carnivora. The book is...

The “Irenean” is a controversial unit traditionally employed to embrace fossil vertebrates and bearing-sediments of late Neogene—roughly Pliocene—age in southern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Although originally intended as an intermediate unit between Montehermosan and Chapadmalalan faunas, almost a century after its description, the “Irenenea...

The "Irenean" is a controversial unit traditionally employed to embrace fossil vertebrates and bearing-sediments of late Neogene-roughly Pliocene-age in southern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Although originally intended as an intermediate unit between Montehermosan and Chapadmalalan faunas, almost a century after its description, the "Irenenea...

The record of Guloninae presents mainly a Holarctic distribution, with only Eira barbara occurring in South America (SA). This lineage immigrated from Central America at least in the Pleistocene. The fossil record of Guloninae for SA is limited to a few known specimens of Eira from Late Pleistocene of Brazil. We report a new specimen of E. barbara...

The diet of extinct giant Xenarthrans is a debated topic, especially for ground sloths, for which herbivory, insectivory, and carnivory through scavenging or active hunting have been suggested. In this study, stable carbon isotopic composition of collagen and carbonate fraction of well-preserved fossil bones was used as a tracer of trophic level. M...

Sparassodonta is a diverse group of extinct metatherian predators that include forms with diets ranging from omnivores to hypercarnivores, including potential bone-crushers and sabre-tooth specialised species. Most of the previous dietary studies on the group were based on qualitative approaches or dental morphometric indexes and/or bite force esti...

The Falkland Islands wolf Dusicyon australis is an extinct canid that was once the only endemic terrestrial mammal to inhabit the Falkland Islands. There is still a puzzling picture of the morphological adaptations of this wolf that quickly evolved from its mainland fossil ancestor: Dusicyon avus. We employ a geometric morphometric approach to iden...

The first collagen AMS radiocarbon dates from the Camet Norte fossil site (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina) range from ca. 24,730±110 years 14C BP to 23,690±100 years 14C BP, or ca. 29,000 cal. BP to 27,600 cal. BP. The dates were obtained from specimens of the Level B of this fossil site. The age of the site fits well with the results of previous...

Site GNL Quintero 1 (GNLQ1), located nearshore at Quintero bay in the central coast of Chile (32° S), is the only documented Late Pleistocene drowned terrestrial site along the Pacific coast of South America. During the last decade, through underwater archaeological operations conducted at GNLQ1, several clusters of shallowly buried bone deposits w...

The Panthera lineage is a monophyletic clade of felids, supported by both morphological and molecular evidence. The lineage includes large species with cranial similarity such as Panthera leo and P. tigris, and other with very different cranium such as P. pardus. The aim of our work was to study the cranial ontogeny of Pantherines, elucidating whet...

The causes of Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions (60,000 to 11,650 years ago, hereafter 60 to 11.65 ka) remain contentious, with major phases coinciding with both human arrival and climate change around the world. The Americas provide a unique opportunity to disentangle these factors as human colonization took place over a narrow time frame (~...

The Tremarctinae are a subfamily of bears endemic to the New World, including two of the largest terrestrial mammalian carnivores that have ever lived: the giant, short-faced bears Arctodus simus from North America and Arctotherium angustidens from South America (greater than or equal to 1000 kg). Arctotherium angustidens became extinct during the...

Puma transport of prey remains to dens located in overhangs, rockshelters or caves lead to conditions of potential mixing with archaeofaunas. The evidence for puma use of places which before or after were also selected by humans is reviewed, as well as results of taphonomic studies. These studies include not only naturalistic observations, but also...

En este trabajo se analizan una serie de piezas dentarias de carnívoros discutiendo su utilización como objetos ornamentales por las poblaciones humanas que ocuparon el sector meridional del humedal del Paraná inferior durante el Holoceno tardío. La identificación taxonómica de los distintos elementos dentarios se efectuó mediante estudios morfomét...

Almost all large carnivorans (Carnivora; > 20 kg) that inhabited South America became extinct around the Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene transition. Two exceptions were species of coyote-sized Dusicyon, one insular (D. australis) and one continental (D. avus). The extinction of the former is a resolved matter, but that of D. avus, found in the Pata...

The genus Nasua is represented by two species, Nasua nasua and Nasua narica. Its current distribution spans from the south of North America to the north of the Rio Negro in Uruguay. Both species of the genus inhabit a great number of forested habitats. In Argentina, the species Nasua nasua is found in Tucuman, Jujuy, Chaco, Formosa and the northeas...

RESUMEN Se presentan los resultados de nuevos trabajos realizados en la cueva del Medio, Ultima Esperanza, Chile. Algunos de los principales procesos de formación de la cueva y de acumulación de sus sedimentos han sido identificados. Nuevas excavaciones mostraron evidencias de fauna extinta utilizando la cueva desde aproximadamente 14,000 años radi...

Although the use of landmark data to study shape changes along a phylogenetic tree has become a common practice in evolutionary studies, the role of this sort of data for the inference of phylogenetic relationships remains under debate. Theoretical issues aside, the very existence of historical information in landmark data has been challenged, sinc...

The diversity of items consumed by modern didelphids, varying from mostly fruits in Caluromys Allen to mostly small vertebrates in Lutreolina O. Thomas, may cause changes in molar size and shape. We evaluated the morphometric variation of the first and third upper and lower molars of 16 genera of didelphid marsupials, with the aim of assessing the...

Remarkable adaptations in the Carnivora have evolved as a way of dealing with feeding competition, accentuating hypocarnivorous or hypercarnivorous morphotypes. The Carnivora is a highly successful order with 47 living species in South America. Their history in South America is recent, and includes few lineages that arrived before the Panamanian br...

Understanding the causes that structure natural communities has long been an important goal for biologists. The question of what regulates the distribution and abundance of species in communities is central because it connects widespread processes (e.g., competition, predation), historical effects, and the interactions of these competing mechanisms...

Arctotherium angustidens Gervais and Ameghino, 1880 (the South American giant short-faced bear) is known for being the earliest (Ensenadan Age, early to middle Pleistocene) and largest (body mass over 1 ton) of five described Arctotherium species endemic to South America. Here we assess the diet of this bear from multiple proxies: morphology, biome...

There are a number of studies relating to skull morphology differences within the carnivoran clades of both placentals and metatherians. It is difficult to compare these studies because of differences in taxonomic sampling, for example some include fossil taxa while others include non-carnivoran placentals. As a consequence, we studied mandible mor...

Monodelphis dimidiata is a small marsupial from southern South America. It is a true semelparous species that develops an extreme sexual dimorphism associated to the attaining of sexual maturity, both on the size, weight and skull morphology, including the development of sabre-like canines in males. A recent paper considered M. dimidiata males to b...

The fossil record of foxes in South America is very rich, with almost all extant South American species recorded. Currently, three fossil species are known in the Plio-Pleistocene of South America: “Dusicyon” cultridens, Dusicyon avus and “Canis” ensenadensis. In the present work we reviewed the systematics of “Canis” ensenadensis from the Pleistoc...