The Deseado Formation of PatagoniaLoomis, Frederic Brewster
Science
The Deseado Formation of Patagonia
Loomis, Frederic Brewster
Paleontology -- Patagonia (Argentina and Chile)
This, the type species of the above genus, is based on specimen 3063,
a lower jaw with the incisor, premolar 4 and the first two molars.
The incisor is fairly large and heavy, the anterior face slightly
convex, and the anterio-posterior diameter greater than the transverse
diameter. Premolar 4 has a deep external fold, dividing the crown into
an anterior and posterior lamina, the former being then subdivided by
another external fold, making the tooth three-lobed. Just internal
to the median fold is a tiny pit, apparently the last vestige of
an internal fold. Each molar consists of two laminae separated by
a deep external fold, around the inner end of which the laminae are
connected by a narrow bar. In the present condition of wear there is
no indication of secondary furrows. The premolar is smaller than the
molars.
MEASUREMENTS SPECIMEN 3063
Lower dentition, in. 1 to pm. 4 8 mm.
Lower dentition, premolar 4 length 3 mm., width 2.5 mm.
Lower dentition, molar 1 length 2.5 mm., width 2.5 mm.
Lower dentition, molar 2, length 2.75 mm., width 3 mm.
Height of mandible under pm. 4 5.5 mm.
[Illustration: Fig. 126. Left mandible external side, × 4/1.]
=Litodontomys= gen. nov.
One set of lower teeth found by the Amherst party shows a simplicity
of pattern found in no other genus of South America; and this is,
therefore, named _Litodontomys_. The teeth are brachydont, the premolar
and the molars each being divided into two laminae by an external and
an internal fold, the distinctive generic feature being in that this
fold is narrowest at the margin of the tooth and expands internally.
In connection with the expanded folds, the ends of the laminae are
curved toward each other, so that in a worn specimen they would meet
on the margins of the tooth, and leave the folds to appear as pits. No
indication of a furrow is evident on either lamina.
=Litodontomys chubutensis= sp. nov.
The type is number 3086 of the Amherst collection, from the Deseado
beds on the Chico del Chubut River, west of Puerto Visser, and consists
of the lower premolar-molar series.
[Illustration: Fig. 127. Right lower premolar 4—molar 3, × 4/1.]
Premolar 4 is elongated, the anterior lamina being considerably longer
than it is wide, whereas the laminae of the other teeth are wider than
they are long.
The following measurements with the figure give the specific details.
Lower dentition, premolar 4, to molar 3 10.5 mm.
Lower dentition, premolar 4, length 3.5 mm.
Lower dentition, molar 1, length 2. mm.
Lower dentition, molar 2, length 2.5 mm.
Lower dentition, molar 3, length 2.5 mm.
Lower dentition, width of molars 2. mm.
ERETHIZONTIDAE
=Asteromys= Ameghino
Asteromys Amegh., 1897, Bol. Inst. Geog. Argen., t. 18, p. 495.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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