The Urumaco Formation is a formation in Venezuela that includes deposits from the Late Miocene. It is the site of several "giant forms": the turtles, crocodiles, sloths and rodents of Urumaco are among the largest of their groups.
| Urumaco Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Location | |
| Country | Venezuela |
Location
editThe Urumaco formation is located in the Urumaco region in the Caribbean coastal Falcón state. The deposits date from 10 to 5.3 million years ago and the Urumaco formation was deposited in an area with large rivers, swamps, estuaries, lagoons and shallow coastal seas. These conditions in the Late Miocene contrast strongly with the current dry environment in the area today.
Fauna
editCartilaginous fish
editThere are 21 known species of cartilaginous fishes from the Urumaco Formation, belonging to the orders Lamniformes, Carcharhiniformes, Myliobatiformes and Rajiformes.[1] Carcharhinus caquetius is an endemic species of predator shark from Urumaco. A large number of well-preserved fossils of the sawfish Pristis rostra have been found in the deposits. The megalodon is also known from the Urumaco Formation. The coastal seas of Urumaco were further inhabited by species that still live in the Caribbean Sea today, such as the spotted eagle ray, smooth hammerhead shark, tiger shark and bull shark.
Bonefish
editThe bony fishes from the Urumaco Formation include groupers, piranha-like fish such as pacas, cuttlefish, thorny catfish and red-tailed catfish.[2]
Reptiles
editThe Urumaco Formation has a great diversity of crocodilians with twelve known species.[3] Seven species of caimans have been described: Caiman brevirostris, C. latirostris, Globidentosuchus brachyrostris, Melanosuchus fisheri, Mourasuchus arendsi, M. nativus and Purussaurus mirandai, Gryposuchus croizati, G. jessei, Hesperogavialis cruxenti and Ikanogavialis gameroi are the gavials of Urumaco, a group that is no longer found in South America today. The kinship of Charactosuchus mendesi with the other crocodilians is considered unclear. Multiple species of crocodilians were able to live together because they focused on specific niches, limiting infraspecific competition. For example, the 4.3–5.5 metres (14–18 ft) Mourasuchus arendsi[4] had a duck-like beak with which it caught crustaceans, the fish-eating Gryposuchus croizati, 10 metres (33 ft) in length,[5] lived particularly in estuaries, and Purussaurus mirandai, 10 metres (33 ft) in length,[6] hunted a wide range of prey animals.
Stupendemys geographicus is the best-known turtle species from the Urumaco formation. This animal from the American necked turtles family was one of the largest turtles ever with a shell 2.4–3 metres (7.9–9.8 ft) long.[7] Other turtles from Urumaco include several species of Bairdemys,[8] the mata mata Chelus lewisi and softshell turtles.
In addition to the multiple crocodilians and turtles, vertebra of a boa have also been found in the Urumaco Formation.[9]
Mammals
editPhoberomys pattersoni is one of the largest known rodents ever.[10] This three-meter-long relative of today's pacarana had a lifestyle similar to that of the capybara. Several species of xenarthrans are known from the Urumaco Formation. Urumaquia robusta was a ground sloth from the Megatheriidae weighing four tons. Others ground sloths from Urumaco are Bolivartherium urumaquensis, Urumacotherium garciai, Eionaletherium tanycnemius, and Pseudoprepotherium venezuelanum belonging to the Mylodontidae.[11]Urumacocnus urbani and Pattersonocnus diazgameroi are ground sloths from the Megalonychidae. [12] Boreostemma pliocena is a glyptodont. Bounodus enigmaticus (Proterotheriidae, Litopterna) and Gyrinodon (Toxodontidae, Notoungulata) are the South American ungulates of the Urumaco formation. [13] In the waters of Urumaco lived the freshwater dolphins Ischyrorhynchus vanbenedeni and Saurodelphis and the dugongs Nanosiren sanchezi and possibly Metaxytherium. [14][15]
References
edit- ^ Sawfishes and other elasmobranch assemblages from the Mio-Pliocene of the South Caribbean (Urumaco Sequence, northwestern Venezuela). JD Carrillo Briceño et al.. PLOS One (2015).
- ^ Neogene vertebrates from Urumaco, Falcón State, Venezuela: Diversity and significance. MR Sánchez Villagra & OA Aguilera. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology (2010).
- ^ Crocodylian diversity peak and extinction in the late Cenozoic of the northern Neotropics. TM Scheyer et al.. Nature Communications (2013).
- ^ Paiva, Ana Laura S.; Godoy, Pedro L.; Souza, Ray B. B.; Klein, Wilfried; Hsiou, Annie S. (2022-10-01). "Body size estimation of Caimaninae specimens from the Miocene of South America". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 118: 103970. Bibcode:2022JSAES.11803970P. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2022.103970. ISSN 0895-9811.
- ^ Riff, Douglas; Aguilera, Orangel A. (2008-06-01). "The world's largest gharialsGryposuchus: description ofG. croizati n. sp. (Crocodylia, Gavialidae) from the Upper Miocene Urumaco Formation, Venezuela". Paläontologische Zeitschrift. 82 (2): 178–195. Bibcode:2008PalZ...82..178R. doi:10.1007/BF02988408. eISSN 1867-6812. ISSN 0031-0220.
- ^ "Giant prehistoric caiman had extra hip bone to carry its weight". BBC News. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
- ^ Zurich, University of. "Extinct giant turtle had horned shell of up to three meters". phys.org. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
- ^ Two new species of the side necked turtle genus, Bairdemys (Pleurodira, Podocnemididae), from the Miocene of Venezuela. ES Gaffney et al.. Paläontologische Zeitschrift (2008).
- ^ Fossil snakes from the Neogene of Venezuela (Falcón state). JJ Head, MR Sánchez Villagra & OA Aguillera. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology (2006).
- ^ Fossil rodents from the Late Miocene Urumaco and Middle Miocene Cumaca Formations, Venezuela. J. Horovitz et al.. In: Urumaco & Venezuelan Paleontology. MR Sánchez Villagra, OA Aguillera & AA Carlini. Indiana University Press (2010).
- ^ Rincón, A. D.; McDonald, H. G.; Solórzano, A.; Flores, M. N.; Ruiz-Ramoni, D. (2015). "A new enigmatic Late Miocene mylodontoid sloth from northern South America". Royal Society Open Science. 2 (2). Bibcode:2015RSOS....240256R. doi:10.1098/rsos.140256. PMC 4448802. PMID 26064594.
- ^ Two new megalonychid sloths (Mammalia: Xenarthra) from the Urumaco Formation (late Miocene), and their phylogenetic affinities. AD Rincón, A Solórzano, HG McDonald & M Montellano-Ballesteros. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology (2018).
- ^ A new Megadolodinae (Mammalia, Litopterna, Protherotheriidae) from the Urumaco Formation (Late Miocene) of Venezuela. AA Carlini, JN Gelfo & R Sánchez. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology (2006).
- ^ Fossil cetaceans (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Neogene of Colombia and Venezuela. G Aguirre Fernández et al. Journal of Mammalian Evolution (2016).
- ^ Fossil Sirenia of the West Atlantic and Caribbean region. VIII. Nanosiren garciae, gen. et sp. nov. and Nanosiren sanchezi, sp. nov. DP Domning & OA Aguilera. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (2008).