Abstract

LOPONTE, Daniel  and  ACOSTA, Alejandro. Nuevos registros prehispánicos de Canis familiaris (Carnivora, Canidae) en la cuenca del Paraná, Argentina . Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2016, vol.23, n.2, pp.431-454. ISSN 0327-9383.

Five new confirmed Canis familiaris findings of pre-Columbian age are presented. The individuals were recovered in archaeological sites located in the lower basin of the Parana River, generated by complex hunter-gathererers. These individuals must be added to another finding previously reported, totaling 6 confirmed findings of this species recovered in the region. Direct dating performed on different bone elements correspond­ing to these specimens, as well as their associated contexts, show a chronological range for these specimens of 680 ± 80 to 1594 ± 59 radiocarbon years before present. The isotopic data indicate that the breeding area is not the wetland of the lower Parana basin, where they were recovered. Therefore, these specimens were not part as the local wildlife, and they had come to the region associated with exchange processes between human groups. Distinctive morphometric criteria for the axis, ulna and canines of C. familiaris are also presented in order to distinguish this species from other South American canids.

Keywords : Canis familiaris; Morphometrics; Parana River; South America; Stable isotopes.