Abstract

FERNANDEZ, Fernando J.; AGUILAR, Juan Pablo; BARBERENA, Ramiro  and  PARDINAS, Ulyses F. J.. New taxonomic evidence for the small mammals from Cueva Huenul 1 (Neuquén, Argentina) allows refining the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Intersecciones antropol. [online]. 2021, vol.22, n.2, pp.209-222.  Epub Dec 01, 2021. ISSN 1850-373X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.37176/iea.22.2.2021.630.

Cueva Huenul 1 site, located in the extreme north of Neuquén Province, is notable for a paleontological component with extinct megafauna in the Late Pleistocene (~16.6 ka cal BP) and three archaeological components that cover, discontinuously, the Holocene. The site presents small mammals in the four components. Previously, 1426 well-preserved specimens of small rodents and marsupials had been recorded from excavation unit A1. The new evidence corresponds to the small mammals record from units B1, C1 and D1, with a total of 1707 specimens, enabling better palaeoenvironmental inferences to be made. To the previous known assemblage made up of the rodents Akodon iniscatus, Ctenomys sp., Eligmodontia sp., Euneomys chinchilloides and Microcavia australis, Phyllotis xanthopygus) and the marsupial Thylamys pallidior, two new sigmodontines (Abrothrix olivacea, Oligoryzomys longicaudatus) and one caviomorph (Galea leucoblephara) are added. The new data do not favor greater environmental heterogeneity towards the early Holocene (~ 9.5 ka cal BP) as previously suggested. Rather, they support the inference of a marked stability of the landscape in general and, therefore, of climatic conditions during the recorded periods.

Keywords : Holocene; Late Pleistocene; Northwestern Patagonia; Marsupials; Rodents.

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