During the Pliocene, the diversification of the tribes Lamini and Camelini of the Family Camelidae took place in most of North America, but at present in Mexico the systematics of Pliocene Camelidae are poorly known. Fossil material described in this paper was recovered from Blancan I and Blancan III age floodplain and point bar deposits of the San Miguel de Allende basin, Guanajuato state, central Mexico, which approximately spans a time frame from 4.7 to 3.0 Ma. The identified taxa include the lamines Hemiauchenia blancoensis (Meade) 1945, Hemiauchenia gracilis Meachen, 2005, Blancocamelus meadei Dalquest, 1975 and Camelops sp., while the camelines are represented by Megatylopus sp. The records of H. gracilis and B. meadei in the Pliocene of central Mexico are the oldest in North America. Previous studies of the probable feeding strategies of these taxa indicate that they were browsers or browser-like intermediate feeders and just one was an intermediate feeder. The records of these species in the Early Blancan of Guanajuato extend their geographic distribution from the southern USA to central Mexico.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 January 2010
Blancan Camelids from San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Central México
E. Jiménez-Hidalgo,
O. Carranza-Castañeda
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
Journal of Paleontology
Vol. 84 • No. 1
January 2010
Vol. 84 • No. 1
January 2010
Blancan
Camelidae
Camelini Lamini
México
Pliocene