''Cullinia'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

litoptern Litopterna (from grc, λῑτή πτέρνα "smooth heel") is an extinct order of fossil hoofed mammals from the Cenozoic era. The order is one of the five great orders of South American ungulates that were endemic to the continent, until th ...

, an order of

South American native ungulates South American native ungulates, commonly abbreviated as SANUs, are extinct ungulate-like mammals of controversial affinities that were indigenous to South America prior to the Great American Biotic Interchange. They comprise five major groups co ...

that included

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

-like and camel-like animals such as ''

Macrauchenia ''Macrauchenia'' ("long llama", based on the now-invalid llama genus, ''Auchenia'', from Greek "big neck") was a large, long-necked and long-limbed, three-toed native South American mammal in the order Litopterna. The genus gives its name to its ...

''. It is only known from fragmentary remains. ''Cullinia levis'' is known from

Chasicoan The Chasicoan ( es, Chasiquense or es, Chasicoense) age is a period of geologic time from 10–9 Ma within the Late Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Mayoan and ...

remains found in the Arroyo Chasicó Formation of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and remains from the Brazilian state of Acre and the

Huayquerian The Huayquerian ( es, Huayqueriense) age is a period of geologic time (9.0–6.8 Ma) within the Late Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification. It follows the Mayoan The Mayoan ( es, Mayoense) age is ...

Ituzaingó Formation The Ituzaingó Formation ( es, Formación Ituzaingó), in older literature also described as Entre Ríos or Entrerriana Formation, is an extensive geological formation of Late Miocene (Tortonian, or Huayquerian in the SALMA classification) age i ...

have been assigned to ''Cullinia'' sp. .

History and naming

''Cullinia'' was described in 1931 by Cabrera and Kraglievich, from MLP 29-IX-178, an holotype containing several fragmentary remains including a mandible and a metatarsal. In 1995, Bond and López add to the holotype other remains from the upper dentition. It was named from the

Araucanian The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sh ...

word "cullin", meaning "animal".

Description

''Cullinia'' was a slender, small

Macraucheniidae Macraucheniidae is a family in the extinct South American ungulate order Litopterna, that resembled various camelids. The reduced nasal bones of their skulls was originally suggested to have housed a small proboscis, similar to that of the sai ...

. It had proportionally larger metapodials than '' Theosodon'', and its first lower molar was absent.

Classification

Below is a phylogenetic tree of the

, based on the work of McGrath ''et al''. 2018, showing the position of ''Cullinia''.

Palaeoecology

The Arroyo Chasicó formation was, in the Miocene, on the tip of a peninsula bordered by the Paranaense Sea. ''Cullinia'' would have lived alongside various genera of

Cingulata Cingulata, part of the superorder Xenarthra, is an order of armored New World placental mammals. Dasypodids and chlamyphorids, the armadillos, are the only surviving families in the order. Two groups of cingulates much larger than extant ar ...

, including the last horned armadillo '' Epipeltephilus'', the dasypodids '' Chasicotatus'', the chlamyphorid '' Vetelia'', the euphractine '' Proeuphractus'', the pampathere '' Kraglievichia'', and the glyptodont ''

Kelenkura ''Kelenkura'' is an extinct genus of heavily armored mammals belonging to the subfamily Glyptodontinae, from the family Chlamyphoridae that contain most of the modern armadillos. It was a medium-sized South American animal, distantly related to ''D ...

''. Other

xenarthra Xenarthra (; from Ancient Greek ξένος, xénos, "foreign, alien" + ἄρθρον, árthron, "joint") is a major clade of placental mammals native to the Americas. There are 31 living species: the anteaters, tree sloths, and armadillos. ...

ns includes several genera of ground sloths, such as the

mylodontid Mylodontidae is a family of extinct South American and North American ground sloths within the suborder Folivora of order Pilosa, living from around 23 million years ago (Mya) to 11,000 years ago. This family is most closely related to another fa ...

Octomylodon ''Octomylodon'' is an extinct genus of ground sloth of the family (biology), family Mylodontidae, living during the Miocene, Late Miocene (Huayquerian). Fossil remains of ''Octomylodon'' have been found uniquely in the Ituzaingó Formation, Argen ...

'', the

megalonychid Megalonychidae is an extinct family of sloths including the extinct ''Megalonyx''. Megalonychids first appeared in the early Oligocene, about 35 million years (Ma) ago, in southern Argentina (Patagonia). There is actually one possible find dating ...

'' Protomegalonyx'', the nothrotheriids '' Xyophorus'' and '' Chasicobradys'', and the

megatheriid Megatheriidae is a family of extinct ground sloths that lived from approximately 23 mya—11,000 years ago. Megatheriids appeared during the Late Oligocene (Deseadan in the SALMA classification), some 29 million years ago, in South Amer ...

'' Anisodontherium''. Several genera of rodents were recovered from the formation, such as the earliest genera of

tuco-tucos A tuco-tuco is a neotropical rodent in the family Ctenomyidae.Parada, A., G. D’Elia, C.J. Bidau, and E.P. Lessa. 2011. Species Groups and the Evolutionary Diversification of Tuco-Tucos, genus ''Ctenomys'' (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae). ''Journal of M ...

, maras and cavioids such as '' Cardiomys'', '' Procardiomys'' and '' Cardiatherium'', octodontids such as '' Chasicomys'' and '' Chasichimys'', the echimyids '' Pattersomys'', the plain viscacha ''Lagostomus telenkechanum'' and its relative '' Prolagostomus'', and the large-sized dinomyid '' Carlesia''.

Meridiungulates South American native ungulates, commonly abbreviated as SANUs, are extinct ungulate-like mammals of controversial affinities that were indigenous to South America prior to the Great American Biotic Interchange. They comprise five major groups c ...

were also present in the formation, with the fellow

genera such as the fellow macraucheniid '' Paranauchenia'', and the proterotheriid '' Neobrachytherium'', while

notoungulates Notoungulata is an extinct order of mammalian ungulates that inhabited South America from the early Paleocene to the Holocene, living from approximately 61 million to 11,000 years ago. Notoungulates were morphologically diverse, with forms resem ...

were represented by genera such as the large-sized late surviving homalodotheriid ''

Chasicotherium ''Chasicotherium'' is an extinct genus of a large notoungulate mammal known originally from a partial skull and mandible discovered in the Arroyo Chasicó Formation, in the stream of Party of Villarino, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The sediments i ...

'', the

toxodontid Toxodontidae is an extinct family of notoungulate mammals, known from the Oligocene to the Holocene (11,000 BP) of South America, with one genus, ''Mixotoxodon'', also known from the Pleistocene of Central America and southwestern North Americ ...

'' Paratrigodon'', the interatheriid ''

Protypotherium ''Protypotherium'' is an extinct genus of notoungulate mammals native to South America during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs. A number of closely related animals date back further, to the Eocene. Fossils of ''Protypotherium'' have been found ...

'', the mesotheriid ''

Typotheriopsis ''Typotheriopsis'' is an extinct genus of Notoungulate, belonging to the family Mesotheriidae, which included several small sized Meridiungulates specialized in digging. It is considered as the sister taxon of the clade including ''Mesotherium' ...

'', and the hegetotheriids '' Paedotherium'', '' Pseudohegetotherium'' and ''

Hemihegetotherium ''Hemihegetotherium'' is an extinct genus of hegetotheriid notoungulate that lived from the Middle to the Late Miocene of what is now Argentina. Description It was a medium-sized animal, approximately the size of large lowland paca ; it may ...

''. The largest

predators Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

were the

sparassodonts Sparassodonta (from Greek to tear, rend; and , gen. , ' tooth) is an extinct order of carnivorous metatherian mammals native to South America, related to modern marsupials. They were once considered to be true marsupials, but are now though ...

'' Pseudolycopsis cabrerai'' and ''

Lycopsis viverensis ''Lycopsis'' is an extinct genus of South American metatherian, that lived during the Miocene in Argentina and Colombia. History Although not named until 1927, Florentino Ameghino described a species now seen as synonymous with ''Lycopsis tor ...

'', and the small

terror bird Phorusrhacids, colloquially known as terror birds, are an extinct clade of large carnivorous flightless birds that were one of the largest species of apex predators in South America during the Cenozoic era; their conventionally accepted temporal ...

Psilopterus ''Psilopterus'' (Greek for "bare wing") is an extinct genus of phorusrhacid ("terror bird") from the Middle Oligocene to possibly the Late Pleistocene of Argentina and Uruguay. Compared to other phorusrhacids, members of the genus are both relat ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q110639950 Macraucheniids Miocene mammals of South America Chasicoan Huayquerian Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Neogene Brazil Fossils of Brazil Ituzaingó Formation Fossil taxa described in 1931 Prehistoric placental genera