La Venta is a

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

locality located in the modern departments of Tolima and Huila in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. This site is one of the richest

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

assemblages in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and represents the best-known

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configura ...

site outside 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 ...

. It provides a glimpse of what life in the region was like before the main wave of the

Great American Interchange The Great American Biotic Interchange (commonly abbreviated as GABI), also known as the Great American Interchange and the Great American Faunal Interchange, was an important late Cenozoic paleozoogeographic biotic interchange event in which lan ...

Geology

The fossils occur in

Middle Miocene The Middle Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages: the Langhian and Serravallian stages. The Middle Miocene is preceded by the Early Miocene. The sub-epoch lasted from 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma to 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma (million y ...

rocks of the Honda Group, which is divided into the younger

Villavieja Formation The Honda Group ( es, Grupo Honda, Tsh, Ngh) is a geological group of the Upper and Middle Magdalena Basins and the adjacent Central and Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The group, in older literature also defined as formation, is in its ...

and the older

La Victoria Formation The Honda Group ( es, Grupo Honda, Tsh, Ngh) is a geological group of the Upper and Middle Magdalena Basins and the adjacent Central and Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The group, in older literature also defined as formation, is in its ...

. The La Venta fauna contained ancient

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of animal

genera 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 nomenclat ...

and

families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

still alive today, as well as some entirely extinct prehistoric lineages. These animals lived some 13.8 to 12

million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago). ...

in the

Laventan The Laventan ( es, Laventense) age is a period of geologic time (13.8 to 11.8 Ma) within the Middle Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Colloncuran and precedes ...

age Age or AGE may refer to: Time and its effects * Age, the amount of time someone or something has been alive or has existed ** East Asian age reckoning, an Asian system of marking age starting at 1 * Ageing or aging, the process of becoming older ...

, which was named after La Venta. At that time, the

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in an area, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorologic ...

of the region was wetter than today and there was much forest of trees similar (and probably related) to the ''sapino'' (''

Goupia glabra ''Goupia glabra'' (goupie or kabukalli; syn. ''G. paraensis, G. tomentosa'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Goupiaceae (formerly treated in the family Celastraceae). It is native to tropical South America, in northern Brazil, Co ...

'') of our time.

List of fauna

Fossil animals found at La Venta include: * Freshwaters fishes, including remains of fishes of the families like

Anostomidae The Anostomidae are a family (biology), family of ray-finned fishes that belong to the order (biology), order Characiformes. Closely related to the Chilodontidae (fishes), Chilodontidae and formerly included with them, the Anostomidae contain abo ...

Osteoglossidae Osteoglossidae is a family of large freshwater fish, which includes the arowanas and arapaima. The family contains two subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera. Osteoglossids are basal teleosts that origina ...

(arapaimas),

Characidae Characidae, the characids or characins is a family of freshwater subtropical and tropical fish, belonging to the order Characiformes. The name "characins" is the historical one, but scientists today tend to prefer "characids" to reflect their ...

Pimelodidae The Pimelodidae, commonly known as the long-whiskered catfishes, are a family of catfishes ( order Siluriformes). Taxonomy The family Pimelodidae has undergone much revision. Currently, it contains about 30 genera and about 90 recognized and kno ...

Callichthyidae Callichthyidae is a family of catfishes (order Siluriformes), called armored catfishes due to the two rows of bony plates (or scutes) along the lengths of their bodies. It contains some of the most popular freshwater aquarium fish, such as many ...

Ariidae The Ariidae or ariid catfish are a family of catfish that mainly live in marine waters with many freshwater and brackish water species. They are found worldwide in tropical to warm temperate zones. The family includes about 143 species. Taxonomy ...

Doradidae The Doradidae are a family of catfishes also known as thorny catfishes, raphael catfishes or talking catfishes. These fish are native to South America, primarily the Amazon basin and the Guianas. Doradids are omnivorous. Taxonomy As of 2007, 3 ...

Loricariidae The Loricariidae is the largest family of catfish (order Siluriformes), with 92 genera and just over 680 species. Loricariids originate from freshwater habitats of Costa Rica, Panama, and tropical and subtropical South America. These fish are not ...

Cichlidae Cichlids are fish from the family Cichlidae in the order Cichliformes. Cichlids were traditionally classed in a suborder, the Labroidei, along with the wrasses ( Labridae), in the order Perciformes, but molecular studies have contradicted thi ...

and the river stingrays

Potamotrygonidae River stingrays or freshwater stingrays are Neotropical freshwater fishes of the family (biology), family Potamotrygonidae in the Order (biology), order Myliobatiformes, one of the four orders of Batoidea, batoids, cartilaginous fishes related to ...

. * A fossil of an

anuran A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

was classified in the current species ''

Rhinella marina The cane toad (''Rhinella marina''), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad native to South and mainland Central America, but which has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania ...

'' (cane toad). * Freshwater turtles like ''

Podocnemis pritchardi ''Podocnemis'' is a genus of aquatic turtles, commonly known as South American river turtles, in the family Podocnemididae. The genus consists of six extant species occurring in tropical South America.

'', ''

Podocnemis medemi ''Podocnemis'' is a genus of aquatic turtles, commonly known as South American river turtles, in the family Podocnemididae. The genus consists of six extant species occurring in tropical South America.

'' and '' Chelus colombiana'', along the terrestrial tortoise '' Geochelone hesterna''. * Anilid snakes ('' Colombophis'') and the primitive

anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus '' Eunectes''. They are found in tropical South America. Four species are currently recognized. Description Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used ...

'' Eunectes stirtoni''. * A lizard, '' Paradracaena colombiana''. * Several types of

crocodylomorph Crocodylomorpha is a group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that includes the crocodilians and their extinct relatives. They were the only members of Pseudosuchia to survive the end-Triassic extinction. During Mesozoic and early Cenozoic times, cro ...

s: perhaps the earliest record of the extant Broad-snouted Caiman, possibly the prehistoric '' Caiman lutescens''. Also a species of the giant caiman ''

Purussaurus ''Purussaurus'' is an extinct genus of giant caiman that lived in South America during the Miocene epoch, from the Friasian to the Huayquerian in the SALMA classification. It is known from skull material found in the Brazilian and Peruvian Amazon ...

'', ''P. neivensis'', the bizarre ''

Mourasuchus ''Mourasuchus'' is an extinct genus of giant, aberrant caiman from the Miocene of South America. Its skull has been described as duck-like, being broad, flat, and very elongate, superficially resembling '' Stomatosuchus'' from the Late Cretaceo ...

'', the mysterious species ''

Balanerodus ''Balanerodus'' is an extinct monospecific genus of alligatorid crocodylian. Fossils have been found from the Fitzcarrald Arch in the Peruvian Amazon and the La Victoria Formation of the Honda Group in Colombia and date back to the Friasian and ...

logimus'', the gharial ''

Gryposuchus ''Gryposuchus'' is an extinct genus of gavialid crocodilian. Fossils have been found from Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil and the Peruvian Amazon. The genus existed during the Miocene epoch (Colhuehuapian to Huayquerian). One recently d ...

colombianus'', a false-gharial crocodile ''

Charactosuchus ''Charactosuchus'' is an extinct genus of crocodilian. It was assigned to the family Crocodylidae in 1988. Specimens have been found in Colombia, Brazil, Jamaica, and possibly Florida and South Carolina. It was gharial-like in appearance with ...

fieldsi'' and the terrestrial sebecid ''

Langstonia ''Langstonia'' (meaning " rocodileof Langston", in honor of paleontologist Wann Langston, Jr.) is an extinct genus of notosuchian crocodylomorph of the family Sebecidae. It lived in the middle Miocene (specifically in the Laventan land-mammal ...

''. * Several types of birds, like the cuculiform ''

Hoazinoides ''Hoazinoides'' is an extinct genus of birds from the Miocene, Middle Miocene (Laventan) from the "Monkey Beds" of the Villavieja Formation of the Honda Group, Colombia, Honda Group at the Lagerstätte, Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta (Colom ...

magdalenae'', the

jacamar The jacamars are a family, Galbulidae, of near passerine birds from tropical South and Central America, extending up to Mexico. The family contains five genera and 18 species. The family is closely related to the puffbirds, another Neotropical f ...

'' Galbula hylochoreutes'', the

limpkin The limpkin (''Aramus guarauna''), also called carrao, courlan, and crying bird, is a large wading bird related to rails and cranes, and the only extant species in the family Aramidae. It is found mostly in wetlands in warm parts of the America ...

'' Aramus paludigrus'' and a non-named species of ''

Anhinga The anhinga (; ''Anhinga anhinga''), sometimes called snakebird, darter, American darter, or water turkey, is a water bird of the warmer parts of the Americas. The word ''anhinga'' comes from ''a'ñinga'' in the Brazilian Tupi language and means ...

''. * Prehistoric

armadillo Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along wi ...

s, like '' Anadasypus hondanus'', ''

Nanoastegotherium ''Nanoastegotherium'' is an extinct genus of cingulate, belonging to the family Dasypodidae, which includes the modern nine-banded armadillos. The name of the genus means "small ''Astegotherium''", referring to its small size, smaller than the m ...

prostatum'' and '' Pedrolypeutes praecursor''. * One of the earliest known pampatheres, ''

Scirrotherium ''Scirrotherium'' is an extinct genus of pampatheres, a family of herbivorous cingulates, related to the similar but smaller modern armadillos, and with the now extinct glyptodonts, well-known from their shell-like armor. Its scientific name ...

''. * Several fossils of

glyptodont Glyptodonts are an extinct subfamily of large, heavily armoured armadillos. They arose in South America around 48 million years ago and spread to southern North America after the continents became connected several million years ago. The best-kn ...

s, including two species of ''

Boreostemma ''Boreostemma'' is an extinct genus of glyptodonts from northern South America. Fossils assigned to the genus were first described as belonging to '' Asterostemma'' from southern South America, but have been placed in the new genus ''Boreostemma' ...

'', ''B. gigantea'' and ''B. acostae'' (formerly including in the genus '' Asterostemma''). * An

anteater Anteater is a common name for the four extant mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua (meaning "worm tongue") commonly known for eating ants and termites. The individual species have other names in English and other languages. Together with ...

, ''

Neotamandua borealis ''Neotamandua borealis'' is an extinct species of anteater. Fossils were found in the Honda Group, Colombia, Honda Group at the Lagerstätte, Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta (Colombia), La Venta, Colombia. It was suggested to be an ancestor ...

''. *

Sloth Sloths are a group of Neotropical xenarthran mammals constituting the suborder Folivora, including the extant arboreal tree sloths and extinct terrestrial ground sloths. Noted for their slowness of movement, tree sloths spend most of their li ...

s, like the big '' Magdalenabradys'', and small genera like '' Brievabradys'', ''

Neonematherium ''Neonematherium'' is an extinct genus of scelidotheriid ground sloths that lived in Argentina, Chile, and Colombia during the Early to Late Miocene. Fossils have been found in the Honda Group of Colombia, and the Río Frías Formation of Chi ...

'' and ''

Huilabradys ''Huilabradys'' is an extinct genus of ground sloths of the family Nothrotheriidae that lived in what is now Colombia. ''Huilabradys'' was discovered in the strata of the La Tatacoa desert in the Huila department, in the Villavieja Formation, an ...

''. * A prehistoric

manatee Manatees (family Trichechidae, genus ''Trichechus'') are large, fully aquatic, mostly herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. There are three accepted living species of Trichechidae, representing three of the four living species ...

, ''

Potamosiren ''Potamosiren'' is an extinct genus of manatee from the Middle Miocene (Laventan) Honda Group of Colombia. Phylogeny A 2014 cladistic analysis of extinct sirenians recovers ''Potamosiren'' as a close relative of modern manatees.M. Voss. 2014. ...

''. * Several kinds of

New World monkeys New World monkeys are the five families of primates that are found in the tropical regions of Mexico, Central and South America: Callitrichidae, Cebidae, Aotidae, Pitheciidae, and Atelidae. The five families are ranked together as the Ceboidea ...

( Platyrrhini), like the species '' Cebupithecia sarmientoi'', '' Stirtonia victoriae'' and ''S. tatacoensis'', ''

Aotus dindensis ''Aotus dindensis'' is an extinct species of New World monkeys in the genus '' Aotus'' from the Middle Miocene (Laventan in the South American land mammal ages; 13.8 to 11.8 Ma). Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La ...

'', '' Nuciruptor rubricae'', ''

Mohanamico ''Mohanamico'' is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene (Laventan in the South American land mammal ages; 13.8 to 11.8 Ma). Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Co ...

'', ''

Lagonimico ''Lagonimico'' is an extinct genus of New World monkeys from the Middle Miocene (Laventan in the South American land mammal ages; 13.8 to 11.8 Ma). Its remains have been found at the Konzentrat-Lagerstätte of La Venta in the Honda Group of Co ...

'', ''

Patasola The Patasola or "one leg" is one of many legends in South American folklore about female monsters from the jungle, appearing to male hunters or loggers in the middle of the wilderness when they think about women. The Patasola appears in the form ...

'' and '' Laventiana''. * Bats (

Chiroptera Bats are mammals of the Order (biology), order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in fli ...

), like the living species of fisher bat '' Noctilio albiventris'' and ''

Thyroptera lavali LaVal's disk-winged bat (''Thyroptera lavali'') is a species of bat in the family Thyropteridae. It is native to Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela and Brazil where it has been found near streams in tropical rainforest. The bat is insectivorous ...

'' along with extinct species like '' Potamops mascahehenes'', '' Notonycteris magdalenensis'', '' Notonycteris sucharadeus'', '' Palynephyllum antimaster'' and '' Molossus colombiensis''.Czaplewski N.J., Masanaru T., T. M. Naeher., N. Shigehara, and T. Setoguchi
Additional bats from the middle Miocene La Venta fauna of Colombia
. ''Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias'' 27 (103): 263-282, 2003. ISSN 0370-3908. *

Rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...

s like '' Scleromys shurmanni'', ''Scleromys colombianus'', '' Olenopsis aequatorialis'' y '' Neoreomys huilensis''. * Many species of ( South American endemic ungulates), including the

astrapotheres Astrapotheria is an extinct order of South American and Antarctic hoofed mammals that existed from the late Paleocene to the Middle Miocene, ."The uruguaytheriine Astrapotheriidae from the rich middle Miocene Honda Group of the upper Magdalen ...

Granastrapotherium snorki ''Granastrapotherium'' is an extinct genus of ungulate mammals, described from remains found in rocks of the Honda Group in the Tatacoa Desert, in the Colombian departments of Huila and Tolima, at the Miocene fossil site La Venta. The only spe ...

'', '' Xenastrapotherium kraglievichi'', and '' Hilarcotherium castanedaii''; the

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 resemb ...

'' Huilatherium pluriplicatum'', '' Pericotoxodon platygnathus'', and '' Miocochilius anomopodus''; and the

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

'' Megadolodus'', '' Mesolicaphrium'', '' Villarroelia'' and an unnamed species of ''

Theosodon ''Theosodon'' is an extinct genus of litoptern mammal from the Early to Middle Miocene of South America. Description ''Theosodon'' was long-legged with a long neck resembling modern llamas or guanacos. It was large for a litoptern, reaching ...

''. * Small

marsupials Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...

like the

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...

s ''

Thylamys ''Thylamys'' is a genus of opossums in the family Didelphidae. The premaxillae are rounded rather than pointed. The females lack a pouch. The females' nipples are arranged in two symmetrical rows on the abdomen. All species but ''T. macrurus'' ...

minutus'', ''T. colombianus'' and ''

Marmosa The 27 species in the genus ''Marmosa'' are relatively small Neotropical members of the family Didelphidae. This genus is one of three that are known as mouse opossums. The others are '' Thylamys'' (the "fat-tailed mouse opossums") and '' Tlacua ...

laventicus'', the

paucituberculata Paucituberculata is an order of South American marsupials. Although currently represented only by the seven living species of shrew opossums, this order was formerly much more diverse, with more than 60 extinct species named from the fossil rec ...

ns '' Pithiculites chenche'' and '' Hondathentes cazador'', and the

microbiotheria Microbiotheria is an australidelphian marsupial order that encompasses two families, Microbiotheriidae and Woodburnodontidae, and is represented by only one extant species, the monito del monte, and a number of extinct species known from fossi ...

n '' Pachybiotherium minor''. * Several kinds of omnivore and carnivore

metatherian Metatheria is a mammalian clade that includes all mammals more closely related to marsupials than to placentals. First proposed by Thomas Henry Huxley in 1880, it is a more inclusive group than the marsupials; it contains all marsupials as well ...

s that belong to the order

Sparassodonta Sparassodonta (from Ancient Greek, Greek to tear, rend; and , gen.

, ' The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. It has the same shape as an apostrophe or single closing quotation mark () in many typefaces, but it differs from them in being placed on the baseline ...

tooth) is an extinct order (biology), order of carnivore, carnivorous metatherian mammals native to South America, related to modern marsupials. They were once con ...

, like the primitive ''

Hondadelphys ''Hondadelphys'' is an extinct genus of carnivorous sparassodonts, known from the Middle Miocene of Colombia. The type species, ''H. fieldsi'', was described in 1976 from the fossil locality of La Venta, which hosts fossils from the Villavieja For ...

'', the saber-toothed ''

Anachlysictis ''Anachlysictis gracilis'' is an extinct carnivorous mammal belonging to the group Sparassodonta, which were metatherians (a group including marsupials and their close relatives) that inhabited South America during the Cenozoic. ''Anachlysictis' ...

'' (family

Thylacosmilidae Thylacosmilidae is an extinct Family (biology), family of metatherian predators, related to the modern marsupials, which lived in South America between the Miocene and Pliocene epochs. Like other South American mammalian predators that lived prio ...

), ''

Lycopsis longirostris ''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 ...

'', a medium-sized member of the family Prothylacinidae along with its bigger relative, '' Dukecynus magnus''.

References

External links

University of Berkeley page on the Villavieja Formation, in particular La Venta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venta (Colombia), La Miocene paleontological sites Geology of Colombia Neogene Colombia Paleontology in Colombia Cenozoic paleontological sites of South America