''Pternoconius'' 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 ...

of macraucheniid

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 ...

from the

Late Oligocene The Chattian is, in the geologic timescale, the younger of two ages or upper of two stages of the Oligocene Epoch/ Series. It spans the time between . The Chattian is preceded by the Rupelian and is followed by the Aquitanian (the lowest stage ...

and

Early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...

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 ...

. Fossils of this genus have been found in the Sarmiento Formation of Argentina.

Etymology

The genus name, ''Pternoconius'', is an anagram of the closely related genus '' Coniopternium''. The species name refers to the similarity of the

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

genus '' Polymorphis''.

Species

''Pternoconius tournoueri''

In 1985, fossils found in the Early Miocene Colhué Huapí Member of the Sarmiento Formation were assigned to the genus under the name ''Pternoconius tournoueri'', consisting of a nearly complete hemimandible.

''Pternoconius bondi''

In 2016 a new species of macraucheniid litoptern was described coming from the Bajada del Diablo locality in the Sarmiento Formation, consisting of the anterior portion of the skull with the maxillary region, some fragments of nasal bones, a small portion of the left zygomatic process, and most of the upper dentition (i.e., left P2–M3, right C, and right P1–M3). The species was named after Mariano Bond, in recognition of his contributions to the knowledge of South American native ungulates.

Classification

''Pternoconius'' is a member of the subfamily Cramaucheniinae within the family

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 ...

. However, many studies have suggested that Cramaucheniinae is a paraphyletic group. This suggestion was further corroborated in phylogenetic analyses of the family in 2014 and 2018, which found that Cramaucheniinae is a paraphyletic group, and that ''Theosodon'' is a sister clade to the subfamily Macraucheniinae, the least primitive of the members of Cramaucheniinae. The results of McGrath ''et al''. 2018 are shown below.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q113004357 Macraucheniids Miocene mammals of South America Oligocene mammals of South America Colhuehuapian Deseadan Neogene Argentina Paleogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Fossil taxa described in 1983 Prehistoric placental genera Golfo San Jorge Basin Sarmiento Formation