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South America is home to some of the most distinctive mammals on Earth: giant armadillos, tiny anteaters, the world's largest rodent, and its smallest deer. But the continent once supported a variety of other equally intriguing mammals that have no close living relatives: armored mammals with tail clubs, saber-toothed marsupials, and even a swimming sloth. We know of the existence of these peculiar species thanks to South America's rich fossil record, which provides many glimpses of prehistoric mammals and the ecosystems in which they lived. Organized as a "walk through time" and featuring species from 15 important fossil sites, Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys is the most extensive and richly illustrated volume devoted exclusively to the Cenozoic mammals of South America. The text is supported by 75 life reconstructions of extinct species in their native habitats, as well as photographs of fossil specimens and the sites highlighted in Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys. An annotated bibliography is included for those interested in delving into the scientific literature.
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. Time and Geography
2. Introduction to Mammals
Part I. Early South American Phase and the Trans-Atlantic Dispersal Interval (TADI)
3. Tiupampa, Bolivia
3.1 Pucadelphys andinus
3.2 Mayulestes ferox
3.3 Molinodus suarezi
3.4 Alcidedorbignya inopinata
4. Itaboraí, Brazil
4.1 Epidolops ameghinoi
4.2 Colbertia magellanica
4.3 Protolipterna ellipsodontoides
4.4 Carodnia vieirai
5. Gran Barranca, Argentina
5.1 Sebecus icaeorhinus
5.2 Niolamia argentina and Caroloameghinia mater
5.3 Utaetus buccatus
5.4 Thomashuxleya rostrata
5.5 Notopithecus adapinus
6. La Gran Hondonada, Argentina
6.1 Otronia muhlbergi
6.2 Pseudhyrax eutrachytheroides
6.3 Puelia plicata
6.4 Trigonostylops wortmani
Part II. Late South American Phase
7. Tinguiririca, Chile
7.1 Klohnia charrieri
7.2 Pseudoglyptodon chilensis
7.3 Andemys termasi
7.4 Santiagorothia chiliensis
8. Salla, Bolivia
8.1 Paraborhyaena boliviana
8.2 Branisella boliviana
8.3 Anayatherium fortis
8.4 Trachytherus alloxus
8.5 Pyrotherium romeroi
9. Chucal, Chile
9.1 Parapropalaehoplophorus septentrionalis
9.2 Peltephilus ferox
9.3 Theosodon lallemanti
9.4 Nesodon imbricatus
9.5 Altitypotherium chucalensis
10. Santa Cruz, Argentina
10.1 Necrolestes patagonensis
10.2 Borhyaena tuberata
10.3 Hapalops indifferens
10.4 Steiromys duplicatus
10.5 Thoatherium minusculum
10.6 Interatherium robustum
11. La Venta, Colombia
11.1 Neotamandua borealis
11.2 Cebupithecia sarmientoi
11.3 Megadolodus molariformis and Purussaurus neivensis
11.4 Miocochilius anamopodus
11.5 Granastrapotherium snorki
12. Quebrada Honda, Bolivia
12.1 Acyon myctoderos
12.2 Hondalagus altiplanensis
12.3 Guiomys unica
12.4 Hemihegetotherium trilobus
13. Arroyo Chasicó, Argentina
13.1 Protomegalonyx chasicoensis
13.2 Prolagostomus and Lycopsis viverensis
13.3 Neobrachytherium ullumense
13.4 Chasicotherium rothi
13.5 Typotheriopsis chasicoensis
Part III. The Great American Biotic Interchange (GABI) and the Interamerican Phase
14. Acre, Brazil
14.1 Neoglyptatelus originalis
14.2 Thalassocnus natans
14.3 Phoberomys burmeisteri
14.4 Trigodon
15. Catamarca, Argentina
15.1 Andalgalornis steulleti
15.2 Thylacosmilus atrox
15.3 Vassallia maxima and Argentavis magnificens
15.4 Pronothrotherium typicum
15.5 Cyonasua brevirostris
16. Chapadmalal, Argentina
16.1 Sparassocynus derivatus
16.2 Macroeuphractus outesi
16.3 Scelidotherium parodii
16.4 Platygonus marplatensis
16.5 Paedotherium typicum
17. Tarija, Bolivia
17.1 Cuvieronius hyodon
17.2 Glyptodon reticulatus
17.3 Doedicurus clavicaudatus
17.4 Megatherium americanum
17.5 Protocyon tarijensis and Glossotherium tarijense
17.6 Smilodon populator
17.7 Onohippidium devillei
17.8 Macrauchenia patachonica
17.9 Toxodon platensis
Further Reading
Appendix 1. Alphabetical List of Species
Appendix 2. List of Families and Higher Taxonomic Groups
Appendix 3. Mammals of Tiupampa, Bolivia
Appendix 4. Mammals of Itaboraí, Brazil
Appendix 5. Middle Eocene (“Barrancan”) Mammals of Gran Barranca, Argentina
Appendix 6. Mammals of La Gran Hondonada, Argentina
Appendix 7. Mammals of Tinguiririca, Chile
Appendix 8. Mammals of Salla, Bolivia
Appendix 9. Mammals of Chucal, Chile
Appendix 10. Mammals of Costal Santa Cruz, Argentina
Appendix 11. Mammals of La Venta, Colombia
Appendix 12. Mammals of Quebrada Honda, Bolivia
Appendix 13. Mammals of Arroyo Chasicó, Argentina
Appendix 14. Mammals of Acre (Brazil and Peru)
Appendix 15. Mammals of Catamarca, Argentina
Appendix 16. Mammals of Chapadmalal, Argentina
Appendix 17. Mammals of Tarija, Bolivia
Glossary
Index
Darin A. Croft is Associate Professor of Anatomy at Case Western Reserve University and a research associate at several museums including the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. He is an authority on the extinct mammals of South America and has active field programs in the Andes of Chile and Bolivia.
Velizar Simeonovski is an artist based in Chicago who specializes in life reconstructions of extinct species and visualizations of ancient landscapes. His works have been featured in scientific journals and magazines, in the book Extinct Madagascar: Picturing the Island's Past, and in museum exhibits in the US and in his home country of Bulgaria.
"Organized as a 'walk through time' and featuring species from 15 important fossil sites, this book is the most extensive and richly illustrated volume devoted exclusively to the Cenozoic mammals of South America."
– BirdBooker Report
"This handsome book, written by a leading expert in South American paleontology, is profusely illustrated with maps, time charts, color photographs of fossils, and exquisite life reconstructions. The book is accessible to the general reader, and it will appeal to any individual, young and old alike, interested in the fossil record, as well as to students and scholars of paleontology who work in other parts of the globe."
– Choice
"An expert in fossil mammals from South America, this is Croft's magnum opus on his life's passion."
– Twilight Beasts
"Given the wealth of unfamiliar animals the volume presents, even readers well versed in vertebrate biodiversity will find it rewarding."
– The Quarterly Review of Biology
"It is by far the best and most satisfying book-sized work that looks at South America's extinct fauna so far, and it is unique in its depth of coverage and quality of content. I encourage you to get hold of a copy yourself."
– Scientific American Blog Network
"All these considerations make this book a great source of information for the non-specialist, and a nice summary for those researchers looking for a synthesis of Cenozoic South American fossil sites."
– Journal of Mammalian Evolution
"Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys is an excellent work that will be of interest to anyone that appreciates the extraordinary world of extinct and living mammals, extinction processes, and the loss of biodiversity, and the unique natural history of South America. The combination of scientific information and vivid paleoart reconstructions makes this book a valuable source for an appreciation of these ancient beasts and the ecosystems in which they lived."
– Oxford University Press Journals
"Well-written and easy for the nonspecialist to understand, this is also a most needed updating of this subject, much in the line of classic works such as Simpson's The Beginning of the Age of Mammals in South America and Patterson and Pascual's The Fossil Mammal Fauna of South America."
– Richard Fariña, coauthor Megafauna: Giant Beasts of Pleistocene South America
"Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys is a magnificent book, with splendid and exacting illustrations, a necessary update between two covers for specialists as well as for palaeontologists unfamiliar with South America. It is also an accessible book for the educated public. Darin Croft's writing project is unquestionably useful. Velizar Simeonovski has proposed a daunting challenge to the next generation of illustrators."
– Ephraim Nissan, Priscum, The Newsletter of the Paleontological Society
