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The Early Eocene Climatic Optimum at the Lower Section of the Lumbrera Formation (Ypresian, Salta Province, Northwestern Argentina): Origin and Early Diversification of the Cingulata

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Abstract

Recently, the basal beds of the lower section of the Lumbrera Formation have been referred to the early Eocene (Ypresian) based on the identification of a succession of hyperthermal events globally dated between 52 and 55 Ma. Nevertheless, this section have also been referred to the middle Eocene (Lutetian) based on the ‘evolutionary stage’ of its fossil mammals. In this contribution, we present a new 238U-206Pb isochron age (46.2 Ma) obtained from samples taken on various independent points across paleosol and matrix positioned at the top of the lower section of the Lumbrera Formation. The new age is consistent with the hyperthermal scheme and constrains the deposition of the lower section of the Lumbrera Fm. between 55–46.2 Ma. In this new geochronological framework, we present one of the most ancient cingulate assemblages from America, recorded during the early Eocene hyperthermal. The specimens involved were recovered from the lowest levels of the lower section of the Lumbrera Formation at Los Cardones National Park, Calchaquí Valleys, Salta Province, Argentina. This cingulate assemblage is formed by the armadillos Pucatherium parvum, a species widely distributed in the Eocene of northwestern Argentina and a new taxon, Noatherium emilioi, gen. et sp. nov. In this new geochronological framework, the taxonomic composition and morphological variations observed in the two species described here and their probably contemporaneous Riostegotherium yanei from the Itaboraí basin (Brazil) support an early diversification of the Cingulata during the Paleocene, and reinforce an intertropical origin for the group.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the rangers of the Los Cardones National Park and Administración de Parques Nacionales (APN) for their logistic support of our fieldwork. We also thank Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA) for providing the facilities of the Don Otto camp. We are grateful to the curators M. Reguero (MLP), Pablo Ortiz (PVL), and former curator A. Kramarz (MACN) for making available the collections under their care. This is a contribution to projects Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (ANPYCT) grant PICT 201–0508 to N. Zimicz, L. Chornogubsky, J.C. Fernicola, M. Arnal, and M. Bond; CONICET-MACN grant PUE22920160100098 to L. Chornogubsky and J.C. Fernicola; and IBIGEO-PUE to N. Zimicz. M.N.D. acknowledges support from the Romanian Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding project PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0014.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Conicet, Argentina

    Juan Carlos Fernicola, Ana N. Zimicz, Laura Chornogubsky, Laura E. Cruz, Mariano Bond, Michelle Arnal, Magalí Cárdenas & Mercedes Fernández

  2. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales ‘Bernardino Rivadavia’, Av. Ángel Gallardo 470, 1405, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Juan Carlos Fernicola, Laura Chornogubsky, Laura E. Cruz, Magalí Cárdenas & Mercedes Fernández

  3. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Nacional de Luján (UNLu), Ruta 5 y Avenida Constitución (6700), Luján, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Juan Carlos Fernicola & Mercedes Fernández

  4. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del Noroeste Argentino, Av. Bolivia 5550, 4400, Salta, Argentina

    Ana N. Zimicz

  5. Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, 85721, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Mihai Ducea

  6. Faculty of Geology and Geophysics, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

    Mihai Ducea

  7. División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, UNLP, Paseo del Bosque s/n, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina

    Mariano Bond

  8. División Paleontología Vertebrados, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Unidades de Investigación Anexo Museo de La Plata, UNLP, Av. 122 y 60, B1900FWA, La Plata, Argentina

    Michelle Arnal

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  1. Juan Carlos Fernicola
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Fernicola, J.C., Zimicz, A.N., Chornogubsky, L. et al. The Early Eocene Climatic Optimum at the Lower Section of the Lumbrera Formation (Ypresian, Salta Province, Northwestern Argentina): Origin and Early Diversification of the Cingulata. J Mammal Evol 28, 621–633 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-021-09545-w

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