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1 March 2010 Extinct Peccary “CynorcaOccidentale (Tayassuidae, Tayassuinae) from the Miocene of Panama and Correlations to North America
Bruce J. MacFadden, Michael X. Kirby, Aldo Rincon, Camilo Montes, Sara Moron, Nikki Strong, Carlos Jaramillo
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Abstract

Recently collected specimens of the extinct tayassuine peccary “Cynorcaoccidentale (and another indeterminant tayassuid) are described from new excavations along the southern reaches of the Panama Canal. Fossil peccaries were previously unknown from Panama, and these new tayassuid specimens therefore add to the extinct mammalian biodiversity in this region. “Cynorcaoccidentale occurs in situ in the Centenario Fauna (new name) from both the upper part of the Culebra Formation and overlying Cucaracha Formation, thus encompassing a stratigraphic interval that includes both of these formations and the previously described and more restricted Gaillard Cut Local Fauna. “Cynorcaoccidentale is a primitive member of the clade that gives rise to modern tayassuines in the New World. Diagnostic characters for “C.” occidentale include a retained primitive M1, reduced M3, and shallow mandible, and this species is small relative to most other extinct and modern tayassuine peccaries. Based on the closest biostratigraphic comparisions (Maryland, Florida, Texas, and California), the presence of “C.” occidentale indicates an interval of uncertain duration within the early Hemingfordian (He1) to early Barstovian (Ba 1) land mammal ages (early to middle Miocene) for the Centenario Fauna, between about 19 and 14.8 million years ago. Based on what is known of the modern ecology of tayassuines and previous paleoecological interpretations for Panama, “C.” occidentale likely occupied a variety of environments, ranging from forested to open country habitat mosaics and fed on the diverse array of available plants.

Bruce J. MacFadden, Michael X. Kirby, Aldo Rincon, Camilo Montes, Sara Moron, Nikki Strong, and Carlos Jaramillo "Extinct Peccary “CynorcaOccidentale (Tayassuidae, Tayassuinae) from the Miocene of Panama and Correlations to North America," Journal of Paleontology 84(2), 288-298, (1 March 2010). https://doi.org/10.1666/09-064R.1
Accepted: 1 October 2009; Published: 1 March 2010
KEYWORDS
Miocene
Panama
Tayassuidae
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