Abstract
A paleoparasitological analysis was carried out on a large coprolite assigned to a carnivoran mammal, recovered from the Municipality of Uruguaiana, in the western region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where the Upper Pleistocene Touro Passo Formation crops out. For this, an individual sample was extracted from the specimen using an electric drill, dissociated with 10% hydrochloric acid solution, washed with distilled water, and sifted through a 500 mesh Tyler sieve. After laboratory processing, the sediment retained on the sieve was mixed with glycerin and examined by optical microscopy, which revealed the presence of 14 protozoan oocysts and three nematode eggs. The morphological characteristics of the oocysts (i.e., spherical shape, thick-walled, internal zygote apparently at the beginning of sporulation, as well as their size) and of the eggs (i.e., ovoidal shape, rounded ends, smooth surface, thin-shelled, embryo in their interior, along with their morphometry) suggest that these specimens belong respectively to the orders Eucoccidiorida and Strongylida (Family Ancylostomatidae) represented by several parasitic species of the alimentary tract of modern carnivore. This is the first record of paleoparasites discovered in a vertebrate host from the Touro Passo Formation.
Highlights
The Upper Pleistocene Touro Passo Formation occurs in the western region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil and has an expressive fossil record, originated probably from fluvial deposits and alluvial sedimentation occurred in the last 42,000 years (Lujanian) (Kerber & Oliveira 2008a)
Coprolite The coprolite analyzed in this study was preliminarily described by Kerber & Oliveira (2008a) and it comes from the Milton Almeida outcrop (29°40’20.57” S; 56°51’59.20” W), in the margins of the Touro Passo stream, located in the Municipality of Uruguaiana, in the western region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, in Southern Brazil (Fig. 1)
Fossil remains of carnivorans are still unknown from the Touro Passo Formation, but other Late Pleistocene (Lujanian) records from the Rio Grande do Sul, include material assigned to canids
Summary
The Upper Pleistocene Touro Passo Formation occurs in the western region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil and has an expressive fossil record, originated probably from fluvial deposits and alluvial sedimentation occurred in the last 42,000 years (Lujanian) (Kerber & Oliveira 2008a). The oldest confidently identified paleoparasitological record in a coprolite derives from the Permian and is dated in up to 259.8 million years (Dentzien-Dias et al 2013), possible even older Carboniferous remains have been reported (Zangerl & Case 1976), demonstrating an universe of possibilities still to be explored in the Veterinary Paleoparasitology and Paleoichnology areas, mainly in geological units with rich and abundant paleofaunas, such as the Touro Passo Formation
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