A new record of Equus (Mammalia: Equidae) from the Late Pleistocene of central-south Chile

Abstract

Fourteen dental and bone parts of a horse excavated from the Pilauco paleontological site, Osorno (40°39' S-73°07' W) are analysed and interpreted. This site was formed in association with a peat bog located on the banks of the old Damas River and has conserved abundant late Pleistocene mammalian fauna and flora materials. A date of 11457 ± 140 14C yrs B.P. was obtained from a molar and agrees with our stratigraphic age model. We have identifi ed the fossils as pertaining to the species Equus (Amerhippus) andium, which confi rms its presence in central-south Chile. Furthermore, the recorded geographic location indicate that the metapodial adaptations of the specimens previously described agree with the reconstructed late Pleistocene landscape of Pilauco, dominated by soft volcanic soils and isolated forest patches over large extensions of grasslands. © Sociedad de Biología de Chile.