BOLETÍN DE LA SOCIEDAD GEOLÓGICA MEXICANA Vol 61, Núm. 2, 2006, P. 225-232 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2009v61n2a10

Tortugas fósiles del Pleistoceno tardío de Santiago Chazumba, Oaxaca

Late Pleistocene fossil tortoises of Santiago Chazumba, Oaxaca

 Alberto Cruz^1,*, Joaquín Arroyo–Cabrales¹, Ramón Viñas–Vallverdú²

¹ Laboratorio de Arqueozoología M. en C. Ticul Álvarez Solórzano, Subdirección de Laboratorios y Apoyo Académico del Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia. Moneda 16, Col. Centro, México D. F. 06060.
² Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, España.

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Abstract

The Paleoherpetological Pleistocene fauna record for Mexico is composed by 37 genera and 58 species recorded for 27 different localities; in the case of the reptiles, turtles are the most abundant group. In this paper, we report and describe the bones of Gopherus and Kinosternon aff. K. hirtipes/K. integrum from the municipality of Santiago Chazumba, Oaxaca. The finding of those taxa for the Oaxacan Pleistocene suggest xerophilous scrub environment such the one found today in the Tehuacán–Cuicatlán Valley, but with lower rainfall and higher temperatures, conditions similar to those prevailing in northern México.

Keywords: Distribution, Gopherus, Kinosternon, Pleistocene, Oaxaca.