| Tablazo Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: Mid Pleistocene (Lujanian) ~ | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Claystone, sandstone |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 1°12′S80°48′W / 1.2°S 80.8°W |
| Region | Santa Elena Province |
| Country |  Ecuador |
| Type section | |
| Named for | Cerro El Tablazo |
  Tablazo Formation, Ecuador (Ecuador) | |
The Tablazo Formation is a Middle Pleistocene geologic formation of Santa Elena Province in western Ecuador. The claystones and sandstones were deposited in an estuarine environment. [1]
The formation has provided the following fossils: [1]
An association of two subadult and one adult specimen of Smilodon fatalis was reported from the formation by Reynolds, Seymour & Evans (2021), who interpret the subadult specimens as likely to be siblings, and evaluate the implications of this finding for the knowledge of the life history of S. fatalis. [4]
Smilodon is a genus of felids belonging to the extinct subfamily Machairodontinae. It is one of the best known saber-toothed predators and prehistoric mammals. Although commonly known as the saber-toothed tiger, it was not closely related to the tiger or other modern cats. Smilodon lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene epoch. The genus was named in 1842 based on fossils from Brazil; the generic name means "scalpel" or "two-edged knife" combined with "tooth". Three species are recognized today: S. gracilis, S. fatalis, and S. populator. The two latter species were probably descended from S. gracilis, which itself probably evolved from Megantereon. The hundreds of specimens obtained from the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles constitute the largest collection of Smilodon fossils.
The dire wolf is an extinct canine. The dire wolf lived in the Americas during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene epochs. The species was named in 1858, four years after the first specimen had been found. Two subspecies are recognized: Aenocyon dirus guildayi and Aenocyon dirus dirus. The largest collection of its fossils has been obtained from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.
Panthera atrox, better known as the American lion, also called the North American lion, or American cave lion, is an extinct pantherine cat. Panthera atrox lived in North America during the Pleistocene epoch, from around 340,000 to 12,800 years ago. The species was initially described by American paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1853 based on a fragmentary mandible (jawbone) from Mississippi; the species name ('atrox') means "savage" or "cruel". The status of the species is debated, with some mammalogists and paleontologists considering it a distinct species or a subspecies of Panthera leo, which contains living lions. However, novel genetic evidence has shown that it is instead a distinct species derived from the Eurasian cave or steppe lion, evolving after its geographic isolation in North America. Its fossils have been excavated from Alaska to Mexico. It was about 25% larger than the modern lion, making it one of the largest known felids.
Glossotherium is an extinct genus of large mylodontid ground sloths of the subfamily Mylodontinae. It represents one of the best-known members of the family, along with Mylodon and Paramylodon. Reconstructed animals were between 3 and 4 metres long and possibly weighed up to 1,002.6–1,500 kg. The majority of finds of Glossotherium date from the Middle and Upper Pleistocene, around 300,000 to 10,000 years ago, with a few dating older, as far back Pliocene, about 3.3-3 million years ago. The range included large parts of South America, east of the Andes roughly from latitude 20 to 40 degrees south, leaving out the Amazon Basin in the north. In western South America, finds are also documented north of the equator. The animals largely inhabited the open landscapes of the Pampas and northern savanna regions.
Catonyx is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family Scelidotheriidae, endemic to South America during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. It lived from 2.5 Ma to about 10,000 years ago, existing for approximately 2.49 million years. The most recent date obtained is about 9600 B.P.
The South American land mammal ages (SALMA) establish a geologic timescale for prehistoric South American fauna beginning 64.5 Ma during the Paleocene and continuing through to the Late Pleistocene. These periods are referred to as ages, stages, or intervals and were established using geographic place names where fossil materials where obtained.
Protocyon is an extinct genus of large canid endemic to South and North America during the Late Pleistocene living from 781 to 12 thousand years ago.
Arctotherium is an extinct genus of the Pleistocene short-faced bears endemic to Central and South America. Arctotherium migrated from North America to South America during the Great American Interchange, following the formation of the Isthmus of Panama during the late Pliocene. The genus consists of one early giant form, A. angustidens, and several succeeding smaller species, which were within the size range of modern bears. Arctotherium was adapted to open and mixed habitat. They are genetically closer to the spectacled bear, than to Arctodus of North America, implying the two extinct forms evolved large size in a convergent manner.
Gondolin Cave is a fossiliferous dolomitic paleocave system in the Northwest Province, South Africa. The paleocave formed in the Eccles Formation dolomites. Gondolin is currently the only described hominin-bearing fossil site in the Northwest Province-portion of the designated Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cave is located on privately owned land and is not accessible to the public. As is the case with other South African Paleo-cave systems with Pliocene and/or Pleistocene fossil deposits, the system was mined for lime during the early 20th century. As a result, the system has been heavily disturbed and consists of only a small active cave, a series of in situ remnant cave deposits, and extensive dumpsites of ex situ calcified sediments produced during mining activities.
The Castilletes Formation is a fossiliferous geological formation of the Cocinetas Basin in the northernmost department of La Guajira, Colombia. The formation consists of fossiliferous mudstones, siltstones and medium-grained to conglomeratic fossiliferous lithic to quartzitic sandstones. The Castilletes Formation dates to the Neogene period; Burdigalian to Langhian stages, Colloncuran and Friasian in the SALMA classification, and has a maximum thickness of 440 metres (1,440 ft).
The Ware Formation is a fossiliferous geological formation of the Cocinetas Basin in the northernmost department of La Guajira. The formation consists of fine lithic to quartzitic sandstones, mudstones, pebbly conglomerates with sedimentary and metamorphic rock fragments, fossiliferous packstones and sandy to conglomeratic beds with high fossil content. The Ware Formation dates to the Neogene and Quaternary periods; Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene epochs, typically Pliocene, Uquian, Chapadmalalan and Montehermosan in the SALMA classification, and has a maximum thickness of 25 metres (82 ft).
This paleomammalogy list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2019, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during that year.
Panthera balamoides is a species described as an extinct species of the big cat genus Panthera that is known from a single fossil found in a Late Pleistocene age cenote in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. P. balamoides has only a single reported specimen, the distal end of a right humerus, that is notably of exceptional size for a felid. It was unearthed in 2012 from an underwater cave and described in 2019 by an international group of paleontologists from Mexico and Germany led by Sarah R. Stinnesbeck. However, several authors have since proposed that the fossil comes from an ursid, possibly the extinct Arctotherium, and not of felid affinities.
The Jama Formation is a Pliocene to Early Pleistocene geologic formation in Ecuador. The claystones and sandstones were deposited in an coastal environment. The age of the Jama Formation is constrained by 40Ar/39Ar dating of tephra beds. The formation is correlated to the Charco Azul Formation of western Panama and southeastern Costa Rica.
This list of fossil reptiles described in 2019 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2019, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2019.
This paleomammology list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2021, as well as notes other significant paleomammology discoveries and events which occurred during 2021.
This paleomammology list records new fossil mammal taxa that were described during the year 2022, as well as notes other significant paleomammalogy discoveries and events which occurred during 2022.
This list of fossil reptiles described in 2023 is a list of new taxa of fossil reptiles that were described during the year 2023, as well as other significant discoveries and events related to reptile paleontology that occurred in 2023.
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