fossil fish assemblage from the middle Miocene of the Cocinetas Basin, northern Colombi

Author(s)

Ballen, Gustavo A. ^{[1, 2]} ; Jaramillo, Carlos ^{[1, 3, 4]} ; Dagosta, Fernando C. P. ^[5] ; de Pinna, Mario C. C. ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Smithsonian Trop Res Inst, Panama City - Panama

^[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Museu Zool, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Montpellier, ISEM, CNRS, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier - France

^[4] Univ Salamanca, Fac Sci, Dept Geol, Salamanca - Spain

^[5] Fundacao Univ Fed Grande Dourados, Fac Ciencias Biol & Ambientais, Dourados, MS - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PAPERS IN PALAEONTOLOGY; v. 8, n. 1 NOV 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Freshwater fossil fish faunas have long been used to infer past drainage connections, given that they are bounded by physical freshwater barriers. Here we study a middle Miocene (15.0-15.5 Ma) freshwater fish fossil fauna (Makaraipao) from the Castilletes Formation in northern Colombia, nowadays west of the Andes. We record the presence of lungfishes (Lepidosiren), pacus (Mylossoma and Piaractus), armoured catfishes (Callichthyidae), and red-tail catfishes (Phractocephalus). Extant members of all those groups (except the Callichthyidae, due to lack of taxonomic resolution) are found in Amazonian faunas east of the Andes and are absent from faunas west of the Andes, indicating that the riverine systems of the Guajira Peninsula were connected to Amazonia during the middle Miocene. The similarity of La Venta (west of the Andes) and Rio Acre (east of the Andes) fish faunas during the late Miocene further indicates that the northern Andean uplift was not a complete barrier at least until c. 11 Ma. However, there is a continental-wide structuring of the Miocene fish faunas that is also found in the extant faunas, suggesting that other factors such as ecological conditions, in addition to the uplift of the Andes, have shaped the biogeographic evolution of South American fish faunas. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/19075-9 - Diversity and evolution of Gymnotiformes (Teleostei, Ostariophysi)
• Grantee: Naercio Aquino Menezes
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 16/02253-1 - Paleoichthyology of the Sincelejo formation (late Pliocene) in northern Colombia
• Grantee: Gustavo Adolfo Ballen Chaparro
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• FAPESP's process: 11/23419-1 - Biogeographic history of the fishes from the Amazon Basin: a methodological comparative approach
• Grantee: Fernando Cesar Paiva Dagosta
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• FAPESP's process: 14/11558-5 - Fossil freshwater fishes and the biogeography of Northern South America
• Grantee: Gustavo Adolfo Ballen Chaparro
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)