Patriarchus distortus Ameghino 1891
Creators: name: Fernández, Mercedes
name: Fernicola, Juan Carlos
name: Cerdeño, Esperanza
name: Reguero, Marcelo A.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2018
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Notoungulata
Interatheriidae
Patriarchus
Patriarchus distortus

description: Patriarchus distortus Ameghino, 1891
Holotype. MACN-A 9634 (Figs. 3 J–K), incomplete skull, MACN-A 9635, incomplete coxal (lost), MACN-A 9636 (Fig. 3 L), proximal epiphysis of right femur, MACN-A 9637 and MACN-A 9638, proximal epiphyses of right tibia and fibula articulated to each other and with the distal epiphysis of right femur (Figs. 3 M), all specimens of the same individual.
Diagnosis (Ameghino 1891: 293). “ De tamaño casi igual a la precedente [Patriarchus furculosus], de la cual se distingue por los frontales que no envían prolongamiento internasal hacia adelante. Longitud del cráneo, 102 milímetros. Longitud de la serie dentaria superior, 57 milímetros. Ancho interorbital de los frontales, 32 milímetros. Longitud de los nasales sobre la línea media, 29 milímetros ”.
English translation. Size almost equal to the previous one [Patriarchus furculosus], from which it is distinguished by the frontals that do not exhibit an anterior projection between nasals. Length of the skull, 102 millimetres. Length of upper tooth row, 57 millimetres. Interorbital width of the frontals, 32 millimetres. Length of the nasals on the midline, 29 millimetres.
Comments. Ameghino (1891) did not add any illustration to his description. No specimen is indicated as the type material in Ameghino’s catalogue or in Mones (1896). Among the specimens within the Ameghino Collection, MACN-A 9622 (incomplete skull), MACN-A 9639 (incomplete palate) and MACN-A 9640 (mandibular fragment) are discarded as type specimens because, on the one hand, MACN-A 9640 is a partial mandible and, on the other hand, MACN-A 9622 and MACN-A 9639 are incomplete cranial elements from which only a few measurements can be taken, all of which, in turn, do not match the original measurements provided by Ameghino (1891). In contrast, the skull MACN-A 9634 (Figs. 3 J–K) shows the morphology originally described for the fronto-nasal suture, without an internasal frontal projection, and the measurements available to be taken (skull length = 102.1 mm; length of the upper tooth row = 56.5 mm; length of the nasals on the midline = 28.9 mm) are coincident with those indicated by Ameghino (1891). This material is accompanied by some postcranial elements (MACN-A 9635 to MACN-A 9638) that would belong to the same individual according to the catalogue. Therefore, MACN-A 9634 to MACN-A 9638 constitute the holotype of Pa. distortus.
Chronological and geographical distribution of the type specimen. Santacrucian SALMA, Santa Cruz Province.
description: Published as part of Fernández, Mercedes, Fernicola, Juan Carlos, Cerdeño, Esperanza & Reguero, Marcelo A., 2018, Identification of type materials of the species of Protypotherium Ameghino, 1885 and Patriarchus Ameghino, 1889 (Notoungulata: Interatheriidae) erected by Florentino Ameghino, pp. 473-498 in Zootaxa 4387 (3) on pages 490-491, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4387.3.4, http://zenodo.org/record/1187697