Abstract

BONA, Paula. A new species of Eocaiman Simpson (Crocodylia, Alligatoridae) from the Lower Paleocene of Patagonia. Ameghiniana [online]. 2007, vol.44, n.2, pp.435-445. ISSN 1851-8044.

Eocaiman Simpson represents one of the few known taxa of alligatorids from the Paleogene of South America. This genus is accurately recorded in Patagonia in the late Eocene, with E. cavernensis Simpson, and in the middle Miocene in the area of La Venta, Colombia, with Eocaiman sp. In this paper a new species, Eocaiman palaeocenicus sp. nov., from the upper levels of the Salamanca Formation (Lower Paleocene) is described on the basis of new remains recently found in the coastal zone of the province of Chubut, Argentina. The Alligatoridae are poorly represented in the Paleogene in South America and they have not been recorded in the upper Cretaceous in this continent. However, the presence of E. palaeocenicus sp. nov. in the Lower Paleocene of Patagonia supports the hypothesis of an early diversification of Caimaninae in South America.

Keywords : Argentina; Chubut; Lower Paleocene; Salamanca Formation; Caimaninae; Systematics.