Record of tayassuids in ?late Pliocene to Quaternary deposits in Venezuela

Abstract

Tayassuidae is represented by three extant species whose distribution ranges from southwestern United States to north-central Argentina. As one of the North American immigrants that entered South America during the Great American Biotic Interchange, the oldest unquestionable record of the family dates to the middle Pliocene in Argentina. Intensive paleontological fi eldwork carried out in Venezuela resulted in many new localities containing vertebrate fossils remains. Among these sites, the fossil-rich tar pits and caves are particularly signifi cant. Dental remains of Tayassu pecari discovered in these sites are smaller than those described from other regions. The presence of Tayassu pecari in the ?late Pliocene Venezuelan locality represents the putative oldest record of this species in South America. A few specimens were identifi ed as Pecari tajacu. The Venezuelan tayassuid fossils document the presence of these two distinct North American immigrant lineages in northern South America, and provide information that improves our understanding of the distribution and diversity of the group in South America during the late Pliocene-early Holocene, following their entry into South American during the Great American Biotic Interchange.