Palo Pintados Fm in southern Calchaqui Valley (Miocene of Argentina)

Also known as Estratos de San Lucas

Where: Salta, Argentina (25.8° S, 65.5° W: paleocoordinates 26.0° S, 63.5° W)

• coordinate estimated from map

• local area-level geographic resolution

When: Palo Pintado Formation, Late/Upper Miocene (11.6 - 5.3 Ma)

• deposited between 10.29 ± 0.11 Ma (K/Ar) to 5.27 ± 0.28 Ma (206 P b/238U; Coutand et al., 2006; Carrapa et al., 2006; Galli et al., 2008, 2014).

• formation-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: fluvial; lithology not reported

• Megasequence III, or Araucanense is composed in the CalchaquõÂ Valley of a coarsening and thickening upward cycle, up to 3 km thick, which overlies the Angastaco Formation conglomerates in Megasequence II through a rapid transition zone. Lithology grades from lacustrine and ®ne-grained ¯uvial facies at its base (Palo Pintado Formation), to more proximal ¯uvial and conglomeratic alluvial facies at the top (lower part of the San Felipe Formation), mostly in grayish, yellowish, and greenish strata.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Primary reference: D. Starck and L. M. Anzotegui. 2001. The late Miocene climatic change - persistence of a climatic signal through the orogenic stratigraphic record in northwestern Argentina. Journal of South American Earth Sciences 14:763-774 [P. Mannion/M. Kouvari]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 206042: authorized by Philip Mannion, entered by Miranta Kouvari on 29.10.2019

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Palinomorphs were not included in the taxonomic list.

•The existence of an important fossil content in the Palo

•Pintado Formation and in the basal section of the San Felipe Formation was known for long time. Russo (1948) mentioned mammal remains belonging to Pleurolestodon avitus, undeterminable plants, and bivalves (Diplodon and Corbicula). Vilela (1954) described from the `Estratos de San Lucas' (equivalent to the Palo Pintado Formation) plant remains (logs and leaves) and the freshwater mollusca Ampularia, Corbicula stelzneri, and Diplodon.

unclassified
  -
Ampularia sp.
see also Vilela (1954)
Angiospermata indet.
see also Diaz et al. (1986)
Gliptodontidae indet.
genus close to Plyctaenopyga and Stromatophorus - Berman, pers. comm.
Polypodiopsida
 Salviniales - Polypodiidae
Salvinia sp. Adanson 1763 watermoss
see also Herbst et al. (1987)
unclassified
  -
Charophyta indet. Migula 1890
see also Herbst et al. (1987)
Gastropoda
  -
Gastropoda indet. Cuvier 1795 snail
see also Herbst et al. (1987)
Bivalvia
  -
Bivalvia indet. Linnaeus 1758 clam
see also Herbst et al. (1987)
 Cardiida - Corbiculidae
Corbicula sp. Megerle 1811 clam
see also Russo (1948) (unpublished report)
Corbicula stelzneri clam
see also Vilela (1954)
 Unionida - Mulleriidae
Anodontites sp. Bruguière 1792 clam
see also Morton (1992)
Mammalia
 Cingulata - Glyptodontidae
Plohophorus sp. Ameghino 1887 glyptodon
see also Diaz et al. (1986)
 Cingulata - Pampatheriidae
Kraglievichia sp. Castellanos 1927 edentate
see also Diaz et al. (1986)
  - Mylodontidae
Pleurolestodon avitus Rovereto 1914 edentate
see also Russo (1948) (unpublished report)
 Notoungulata - Toxodontidae
cf. Xotodon sp. Ameghino 1887 notoungulate
Berman, pers. comm.
 Marsupialia - Herpetotheriidae
"Diplodon sp." = Diplodonops
"Diplodon sp." = Diplodonops Ameghino 1902 marsupial
see also Russo (1948) (unpublished report) and Vilela (1954)
Reptilia
 Testudines -
Testudines indet. Batsch 1788 turtle
see also Diaz et al. (1986)
 Testudines - Chelidae
Chelidae indet. Gray 1825 sideneck turtle
De la Fuente, pers. comm.
 Crocodylia - Alligatoridae
Caiman sp. Spix 1825 caiman
De la Fuente, pers. comm.