Patasola magdalenae

Patasola 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 Colombia. The type species is Patasola magdalenae.[1]

Patasola magdalenae
Temporal range: Middle Miocene (Laventan)
~
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Callitrichidae
Genus: †Patasola
Kay & Meldrum, 1997
Species:
†P. magdalenae
Binomial name
†Patasola magdalenae
Kay & Meldrum, 1997

Etymology

Patasola magdalenae is named after the mythological Patasola ("one foot"), a forest spirit of the Gran Tolima region of Colombia. The species epithet refers to the Magdalena River in which valley the fossils were found.[2]

Description

Fossils of Patasola, a small insectivorous/frugivorous primate,[3] were discovered in both the La Victoria and Villavieja Formations above and below the "Monkey Beds" of the Honda Group, that has been dated to the Laventan, about 13.4 to 11.8 Ma.[4][5]

The type mandible of Patasola magdalenae is a juvenile specimen.[6] The estimated weight of Patasola was 480 grams (1.06 lb),[7] similar in size to the extant genus Leontopithecus.[8]

The genus is included in the Callitrichidae,[9] after an initial description as an intermediate between the Callitrichidae and Saimiri.[10]

Habitat

The Honda Group, and more precisely the "Monkey Beds", are the richest site for fossil primates in South America.[11] It has been argued that the monkeys of the Honda Group were living in habitat that was in contact with the Amazon and Orinoco Basins, and that La Venta itself was probably seasonally dry forest.[12] The authors of the publication about Patasola however suggests the presence of rain forest.[3]

See also
  • List of primates of Colombia
  • Lagonimico
  • Mohanamico

References
  1. Patasola magdalenae in the Paleobiology Database
  2. Kay & Meldrum, 1997, p.438
  3. Kay & Meldrum, 1997, p.458
  4. Kay & Meldrum, 1997, p.437
  5. Wheeler, 2010, p.133
  6. Kay & Meldrum, 1997, p.440
  7. Silvestro, 2017, p.14
  8. Defler, 2004, p.32
  9. Takai et al., 2001, p.290
  10. Tejedor, 2013, p.29
  11. Rosenberger & Hartwig, 2001, p.3
  12. Lynch Alfaro et al., 2015, p.520

Bibliography

Further reading
  • Fleagle, John G., and Alfred L. Rosenberger. 2013. The Platyrrhine Fossil Record, 1–256. Elsevier ISBN 9781483267074. Accessed 2017-10-21.
  • Hartwig, W.C., and D.J. Meldrum. 2002. The Primate Fossil Record - Miocene platyrrhines of the northern Neotropics, 175–188. Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-08141-2. Accessed 2017-09-24.
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