Uruguaytherium is an extinct genus of astrapotherid mammal from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene of South America. It was named by the Argentinean paleontologist Lucas Kraglievich in 1928, from a fragmentary fossil found in the Fray Bentos Formation of the department of Río Negro in Uruguay, and the type species is U. beaulieui.[1] The related genera Xenastrapotherium and Granastrapotherium, which make up Uruguaytheriinae with Uruguaytherium, are also from South America, although them colonizated the equatorial zone.[2] The holotype specimen of Uruguaytherium is a partial mandible (the left mandibular ramus), with a preserved third molar, or M3.[3]

Uruguaytherium
Temporal range: Late Oligocene-Early Miocene (Deseadan)
~29.0–21.0 Ma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Astrapotheria
Family: Astrapotheriidae
Subfamily: Uruguaytheriinae
Genus: Uruguaytherium
Kraglievich, 1928
Type species
Uruguaytherium beaulieui
Kraglievich, 1928

Phylogeny edit

Cladogram based in the phylogenetic analysis published by Vallejo-Pareja et al., 2015, showing the position of Uruguaytherium:[2]

Eoastrapostylops

References edit

  1. ^ Uruguaytherium at Fossilworks.org
  2. ^ a b M. C. Vallejo-Pareja; J. D. Carrillo; J. W. Moreno-Bernal; M. Pardo-Jaramillo; D. F. Rodriguez-Gonzalez & J. Muñoz-Duran (2015). "Hilarcotherium castanedaii, gen. et sp. nov., a new Miocene astrapothere (Mammalia, Astrapotheriidae) from the Upper Magdalena Valley, Colombia" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 35 (2): e903960. Bibcode:2015JVPal..35E3960V. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.903960. S2CID 130728894.
  3. ^ Giollot, C; Antoine, P.O.; Tejada, J.; Pujos, F.; Salas Gismondi, R. (2011). "Middle Miocene Uruguaytheriinae (Mammalia, Astrapotheria) from Peruvian Amazonia and a review of the astrapotheriid fossil record in northern South America". Geodiversitas. 33 (2): 331–345. doi:10.5252/g2011n2a8. S2CID 129460591.

Further reading edit

  • L. Kraglievich, 1928. "Sobre el supuesto Astrapotherium Christi Stehlin descubierto en Venezuela (Xenastrapotherium n. gen.) y sus relaciones con Astrapotherium magnum y Uruguaytherium beaulieui". p. 1-16