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. 2019 May 31;15(5):20190148.
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0148.

Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange

Blaine W Schubert  1 , James C Chatters  2 , Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales  3 , Joshua X Samuels  1 , Leopoldo H Soibelzon  4 , Francisco J Prevosti  5   6 , Christopher Widga  1 , Alberto Nava  7 , Dominique Rissolo  8 , Pilar Luna Erreguerena  9
Affiliations

Yucatán carnivorans shed light on the Great American Biotic Interchange

Blaine W Schubert et al. Biol Lett. .

Abstract

The Great American Biotic Interchange is considered to be a punctuated process, primarily occurring during four major pulses that began approximately 2.5 Ma. Central America and southeastern Mexico have a poor fossil record of this dynamic faunal history due to tropical climates. Exploration of submerged caves in the Yucatán, particularly the natural trap Hoyo Negro, is exposing a rich and remarkably well-preserved late Pleistocene fauna. Radiometric dates on megafauna range from approximately 38 400-12 850 cal BP, and extinct species include the ursid Arctotherium wingei and canid Protocyon troglodytes. Both genera were previously thought to be indigenous to and confined to South America and appear to represent an instance of large placental mammals, descended from North American progenitors, migrating back north across the Panama Isthmus. This discovery expands the distribution of these carnivorans greater than 2000 km outside South America. Their presence along with a diverse sloth assemblage suggests a more complex history of these organisms in Middle America. We suggest that landscape and ecological changes caused by latest Pleistocene glaciation supported an interchange pulse that included A. wingei, P. troglodytes and Homo sapiens.

Keywords: Arctotherium; GABI; Protocyon; Yucatán; late Pleistocene.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare we have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Specimen recovery in Hoyo Negro and map showing locations. (a) DP 5864 Arctotherium wingei cranium being recovered. (b) DP 5865 A. wingei cranium after overlying plant material was brushed away. Tremarctos ornatus distribution (in red) [22]. Photos by Roberto Chávez-Arce.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Arctotherium wingei and Protocyon troglodytes from Hoyo Negro. DP 5865 A. wingei, (a) dorsal and (b) ventral view of the cranium, and (c) occlusal view of right P4–M2. DP 5864 A. wingei, (d) occlusal view of right p4–m2 and (e) lateral view of right dentary; m3 broken and missing. DP 5867 P. troglodytes (f) dorsal and (g) ventral view of cranium, (h) occlusal view of right P3–M2, (i) occlusal view of right p3–m2 and (j) lateral view of the right dentary. (Online version in colour.)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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