NUEVO LIBRO: Early Miocene Paleobiology in Patagonia High-Latitude Paleocommunities of the Santa Cruz Formation

Available from October 2012 | 392 pages
125 b/w illus. | 41 tables
Hardback | 978-0-521-19461-7
List Price: USD 155.00
Discounted Price: USD 124.00
 www.cambridge.org/9780521194617


About the Book
Coastal exposures of the Santa Cruz Formation in southern Patagonia have been a fertile ground for recovery of Early Miocene vertebrates for more than 100 years. This volume presents a comprehensive compilation of important mammalian groups which continue to thrive today. It includes the most recent fossil finds as well as important new interpretations based on 10 years of fieldwork by the authors. A key focus is placed on the paleoclimate and paleoenvironment during the time of deposition in the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum (MMCO) between 20 and 15 million years ago. The authors present the first reconstruction of what climatic conditions were like and present important new evidence of the geochronological age, habits and community structures of fossil bird and ammal species. Academic researchers and graduate students in paleontology, paleobiology, paleoecology, stratigraphy, climatology and geochronology will find this a valuable source of information about this fascinating geological formation.


Contents
List of contributors; Preface; 1. Background for a paleoecological study of the Santa Cruz Formation (late Early Miocene) on the Atlantic Coast of Patagonia Sergio F. Vizcaíno, Richard F. Kay and M. Susana Bargo; 2. Tephrochronology of the Santa Cruz and Pinturas Formation Michael E. Perkins, John G. Fleagle, Matt T. Heitzler, Barbara Nash, Thomas M. Bown, Adán A. Tauber and Maria T. Dozo; 3. Tephrochronology and paleontology of the Santa Cruz and Pinturas Formation John G. Fleagle, Michael E. Perkins, Matt T. Heitzler, Barbara Nash, Thomas M. Bown, Adán A. Tauber, Maria T. Dozo and Marcelo F. Tejedor; 4.  Sedimentology and paleoenvironment of the Santa Cruz Formation Sergio Matheos and M. Sol Raigemborm; 5. Oysters from the base of Santa Cruz Formation (late  Early Miocene) of Patagonia Miguel Griffin and Ana Parras; 6. Ichnology of the Santa Cruz Formation (late Early Miocene), at the coast between the Rio Gallegos and Rio Coyle Verónica Krapovickas; 7. Fossil plant studies from late Early Miocene of the Santa Cruz Formation: paleoecology and paleoclimatology at the passive margin of Patagonia, Argentina Mariana Brea, Alejandro Zucol and Ari Iglesias; 8. Amphibians and squamate reptiles from the Santa Cruz Formation (late Early Miocene), Santa Cruz Province, Argentina: paleoenvironmental and paleobiological considerations Juan Carlos Fernicola and Adriana Albino; 9. Diversity and paleobiology of the Santacrucian birds Federico Degrange, Jorge I. Noriega and Juan I. Areta; 10. Paleoecology of the Paucituberculata and Microbiotheria (Mammalia, Marsupialia) from the late Early Miocene of Patagonia M. Alejandra Abello, Edgardo Ortiz-Jaureguizar and Adriana M. Candela; 11. Paleoecology of the mammalian carnivores (Metatheria, Sparassodonta) of the Santa Cruz Formation (late Early Miocene) Francisco Prevosti, Analía M. Forasiepi, Marcos Ercoli and Guillermo F. Turazzini; 12. Paleobiology of Santacrucian glyptodonts and armadillos (Xenarthra, Cingulata) Sergio F. Vizcaíno, Juan Carlos Fernicola and M. Susana Bargo; 13. Paleobiology of the Santacrucian sloths and anteaters (Xenarthra, Pilosa) M. Susana Bargo, Néstor Toledo and Sergio Vizcaíno; 14. Paleobiology of Santacrucian native ungulates (Meridiungulata: Astrapotheria, Litopterna and Notoungulata) Guillermo H. Cassini, Esperanza Cerdeño, Amalía Villafañe and Nahuel A. Muñoz; 15. Paleobiology of Santacrucian Caviomorph rodents: a morpho-functional approach Adriana M. Candela, Luciano L. Rasia and María E. Pérez; 16. The paleobiology of Santacrucian primates Richard F. Kay, Jonathan M. G. Perry, Michael Malinzak, Kari Allen, E. Christopher Kirk, J. Michael Plavcan and John G. Fleagle; 17. A review of the paleoenvironment and paleoecology of the Miocene Santa Cruz Formation Richard F. Kay, Sergio F. Vizcaíno and M. Susana Bargo; Index.


Key Features 
 Presents fossils of unparalleled quality from Santa Cruz - allowing reconstruction of the habits of a variety of extinct and bizarre mammalian species
 Provides a reconstruction of the most southerly record of continental climatic conditions during the Middle Miocene Climatic Optimum