The paleontology of Gran Barranca
Subtitle: evolution and environmental change through the middle Cenozoic of Patagonia
By: edited by R.H. Madden ... [et al.].
Contributors: Madden, R. H.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780521872416
Subjects: Paleontology -- Cenozoic; Sequence stratigraphy; Paleontology -- Patagonia (Argentina and Chile); Plant species diversity -- Patagonia (Argentina and Chile)
Description: "Gran Barranca in Patagonia exposes the most complete sequence of middle Cenozoic paleofaunas in South America. It is the only continuous continental fossil record of the Southern Hemisphere between 42 and 18 million years ago, when climates at high latitudes transitioned from warm humid to cold dry conditions. This volume presents the geochronology of the fossil mammal sequence and a compilation of the latest studies of the stratigraphy, sedimentology, mammals, plants, invertebrates and trace fossils. It is also the first detailed treatment of the vertebrate faunal sequence at Gran Barranca, providing important new evidence about biotic diversity and evolution in the native species. A revised taxonomy allows a reevaluation of the origination and extinction of herbivorous mammals, marsupials, and xenarthrans, and the earliest occurrence of rodents and primates in southern latitudes. Academic researchers and advanced students in vertebrate paleontology, geochronology, sedimentology and paleoprimatology will value this wealth of new information"--Provided by publisher.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Preface; title: List of contributors; title: 1. Notes toward a history of vertebrate paleontology at Gran Barranca; title: Part I. Geology: 2. Physical stratigraphy of the Sarmiento Formation (middle Eocene - lower Miocene) at Gran Barranca, central Patagonia; title: 3. Paleomagnetism and magnetostratigraphy of the Sarmiento Formation (Eocene-Miocene) at Gran Barranca, Chubut, Argentina; title: 4. A geochronology for the Sarmiento Formation at Gran Barranca; title: Part II. Systematic Palaeontology: 5. Middle Eocene - Oligocene gastropods of the Sarmiento Formation, central Patagonia; title: 6. Middle Tertiary marsupials from central Patagonia (early Oligocene of Gran Barranca): understanding South America's Grande Coupure; title: 7. Middle Eocene - Early Miocene Dasypodidae (Xenarthra) of southern South America: biostratigraphy and palaeoecology; title: 8. The 'Condylarth' Didolodontidae from Gran Barranca: history of the bunodont South American mammals until the Eocene-Oligocene transition; title: 9. The Notohippidae (Mammalia, Notoungulata) from Gran Barranca: preliminary considerations; title: 10. Rodent-like notoungulates (Typotheria) from Gran Barranca, Chubut Province, Argentina: phylogeny and systematics; title: 11. The Leontiniidae (Mammalia, Notoungulata) from the Sarmiento Formation at Gran Barranca, Chubut Province, Argentina; title: 12. Colhuehuapian Astrapotheriidae (Mammalia) from Gran Barranca south of Lake Colhue Huapi; title: 13. The rodents from La Cantera and the early evolution of caviomorphs in South America; title: 14. Colhuehuapian rodents from Gran Barranca and other Patagonian localities: the state of the art; title: 15. A new primate from the early Miocene of Gran Barranca, Chubut Province, Argentina: paleoecological implications; title: 16. Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from Gran Barranca (early Miocene, Colhuehuapian), Chubut Province, Argentina; title: Part III. Patterns of Evolution and Environmental Change: 17. The Mustersan age at Gran Barranca: a review; title: 18. A new mammal fauna at the top of the Gran Barranca sequence and its biochronological significance; title: 19. Loessic and fluvial sedimentation in Sarmiento Formation pyroclastics,middle Cenozoic of central Patagonia; title: 20. Paleosols of the Middle Cenozoic Sarmiento Formation, central Patagonia; title: 21. Ichnofacies analysis of the Sarmiento Formation (middle Eocene-early Miocene) at Gran Barranca, central Patagonia; title: 22. Phytolith studies in Gran Barranca (central Patagonia, Argentina), the middle-late Eocene; title: 23. Stable isotopes of fossil teeth and bones at Gran Barranca as a monitor of climate change and tectonics; title: 24. Hypsodonty and body size in rodent like notoungulates; title: Part IV. Regional Applications: 25. Vegetation during the Eocene-Miocene interval in central Patagonia: a context of mammal evolution; title: 26. Paleogene climatic and biotic events in the terrestrial record of the Antarctic Peninsula: an overview; title: 27. Mid-Cenozoic palaeoclimatic and palaeoceanographic trends in the southwestern Atlantic basins, a dinoflagellate view; title: 28. Divisaderan land mammal age or local fauna?; title: Part V. Summary: 29. Gran Barranca: a twenty-three million year record of Middle-Cenozoic faunal evolution in Patagonia; title: Index.