Gomphothere proboscidean (Gomphotherium) from the late Neogene of Panama

Abstract

The proboscidean Gomphotherium is reported here from the Alajuela Formation of Panama. Gomphotherium was widespread throughout Holarctica during the Miocene, and the Panama fossil represents the extreme southernmost occurrence of this genus in the New World. Allocation of the Panama Gomphotherium to a valid species is impossible given both the fragmentary material represented and the taxonomic complexity of species assigned to this genus. In North America, Gomphotherium has a relatively long biochronological range from the middle Miocene (∼15 Ma) to early Pliocene (∼5 Ma). Based on morphological comparisons, the Panama Gomphotherium is either middle Miocene, thus representing the earliest-known entry of this genus into Central America, or late Miocene/early Pliocene, which challenges the currently accepted middle Miocene age of the Alajuela Formation as it has been previously reported from Panama.