A high resolution stratigraphic framework for the remarkable fossil cetacean assemblage of the Miocene/Pliocene Pisco Formation, Peru

Stratigraphic framework of the late Miocene Pisco Formation at Cerro Los Quesos (Ica Desert, Peru)

“…Brand, Esperante, Chadwick, Poma Porras, & Alomía, 2004;Ehret et al, 2012;Esperante, Brand, Chadwick, & Poma, 2015;Esperante, Brand, Nick, Poma, & Urbina, 2008;Gariboldi et al, 2015;Lambert, Bianucci, & de Muizon, 2008;Lambert, Bianucci, & Post, 2009Lambert, Bianucci, Post, de Muizon, et al, 2010;Lambert, Bianucci, & Beatty, 2014;Lambert, de Muizon, & Bianucci, 2014;Lambert et al, 2015;Collareta et al, 2015). However, despite the growing significance of the vertebrate fauna of the Pisco Formation, a comprehensive stratigraphic framework for individual fossil-bearing localities and their position relative to one another has yet to be established (Brand, Urbina, Chadwick, DeVries, & Esperante, 2011;Di Celma et al, in press). In order to develop a robust basin-wide stratigraphic framework allowing for comparisons among the various fossiliferous localities and to provide refined stratigraphic frameworks and age constraints for some of the historic fossil-bearing sites, over the last two years new stratigraphic analyses of the Pisco Formation have been performed in parallel with intensive paleontological prospecting within the Ica Desert (Bianucci, Di Celma, Collareta, et al, in press; Bianucci, Di Celma, Landini, et al, in press).…”

Early Miocene chondrichthyans from the Culebra Formation, Panama: A window into marine vertebrate faunas before closure the Central American Seaway

“…This study represents the first report for this species in Panama. In the early Miocene it is recorded in Chile, Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Trinidad, Cuba, USA (North and South Carolina, New Jersey and Florida), Slovakia and India (Leriche, 1938(Leriche, , 1942Mehrotra et al, 1973;Case, 1980;Applegate, 1986;Holec et al, 1995;Purdy, 1998;Sanchez-Villagra et al, 2000;Aguilera and De Aguilera, 2001;Purdy et al, 2001;Suarez et al, 2006;Costa et al, 2009;Tavora et al, 2010;Visaggi and Godfrey, 2010;Brand et al, 2011).…”

Distribution of fossil marine vertebrates in Cerro Colorado, the type locality of the giant raptorial sperm whaleLivyatan melvillei(Miocene, Pisco Formation, Peru)

“…Two decades later, Brand, Esperante and colleagues (Brand, Esperante, Chadwick, Poma, and Alomía, 2004;Esperante, Brand, Nick, Poma, and Urbina, 2008;Esperante, Brand, Chadwick, & Poma, 2015), evidenced an extraordinary concentration of specimens in several localities of the Pisco Formation, but these papers were limited to baleen whales and, consequently, did not provide any useful information about the faunal diversity of these highly fossiliferous areas. With a different approach, Brand, Urbina, Chadwick, DeVries, and Esperante (2011) attempted to place some published fossil vertebrates of the Pisco Formation along several measured stratigraphic sections; their work provided a rough indication of the fossil distribution, only reporting a non-exhaustive list of fossils, some of which were not correctly placed along the stratigraphic sections (Lambert & Muizon, 2014).…”