New fossil Brachyplatystoma from the Miocene of Argentina

[bekateen]

Agnolin, F. L., & Bogan, S. (2020). Goliath catfish Brachyplatystoma Bleeker, 1862 (Siluriformes: Pimelodidae) from the Miocene of Argentina. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 102551. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsames.2020.102551.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 112030064X

Highlights

• Brachyplatystoma
  is a freshwater catfish genus including some species of gigantic size; its current distribution is restricted to northern South America.
• Here we describe a new species of Brachyplatystoma from late Miocene deposits at Entre Ríos Province, Argentina.
• It constitutes the first finding of Brachyplatystoma in the Paleoparaná Basin, representing an important expansion of the geographical distribution of the genus.
• This finding reinforces previous hypothesis sustaining hydrographic and biological links between the Paraná and Amazon basins up to Miocene times.

Abstract

Brachyplatystoma

is a genus of freshwater catfishes endemic of South America that includes one the largest siluriform species of the neotropics. The fossil record of the genus is restricted to the Miocene of Colombia and Venezuela and the extant species are distributed along Orinoco and Amazonas basins. The present works aims to describe a new species of Brachyplatystoma from late Miocene deposits at Entre Ríos Province, Argentina. The present report constitutes the first finding of Brachyplatystoma in the Paleoparaná Basin, which is in agreement with previous hypothesis indicating hydrographic connections of this river basin with the Amazon basin until at least the early late Miocene times.

• Keywords: Brachyplatystoma, Amazonas, Paraná, Argentina, Late Miocene

Graphical abstract