Catagonus stenocephalus is an extinct species of peccary that lived in South America during the Late Pleistocene. Fossils have been found in Brazil, Argentina and Bolivia.[3][4][5] It is commonly known as the narrow-headed peccary due to its long and markedly convex rostrum.[6]
| Catagonus stenocephalus Temporal range: Mid - Late Pleistocene[1]
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|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Tayassuidae |
| Genus: | Catagonus |
| Species: | †C. stenocephalus
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| Binomial name | |
| †Catagonus stenocephalus (Lund in Reinhardt, 1880)[2]
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| Synonyms | |
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Taxonomy
editThe narrow-headed peccary was originally described as Dicotyles stenocephalus by Lund in 1838 from fossil remains found in Brazilian caves. It was subsequently included under Catagonus when formally published in 1880. In 1930, it was included in the genus Platygonus by Rusconi, which created the subgenus Brasiliochoerus to designate it. In 1981, Paula Couto elevated Brasiliochoerus to genus level.[1]
However, in later years some authors pointed out the similarity between Brasiliochoerus and Catagonus, and subsequently the narrow-headed peccary has been included in the genus Catagonus.[1][7]
In 2017, a study on the classification of the Tayassuidae suggested that the narrow-headed peccary was distinct from other species of Catagonus, and Brasiliochoerus should be elevated back to genus level.[8] This study is controversial, as it also suggests that the living Chacoan peccary be moved to the genus Parachoerus, with Catagonus restricted to the extinct C. metropolitanus.
References
edit- ^ a b c Missagia, R.A.; Parisi-Dutra, R.; Cozzuol, M.A. (2016). "Morphometry of Catagonus stenocephalus (Lund in Reinhardt 1880) (Artiodactyla: Tayassuidae) and taxonomical considerations about Catagonus Ameghino 1904". International Journal of Biodiversity. 12 (1): 39–44.
- ^ "Catagonus stenocephalus". Fossilworks.
- ^ Gasparini, G.M.; Kerber, L.; Oliveira, E.V. (2009). "Catagonus stenocephalus (LUND in REINHARDT, 1880) (Mammalia, Tayassuidae) in the Touro Passo Formation (Late Pleistocene), Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Taxonomic and palaeoenvironmental comments". Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen. 254 (3): 261–273. doi:10.1127/0077-7749/2009/0016.
- ^ Parisi-Dutra, R. (January 2016). "Fossil peccaries of Late Pleistocene/Holocene (Cetartiodactyla, Tayassuidae) from underwater caves of Serra da Bodoquena (Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil)". Historical Biology. 29 (1): 85–92. doi:10.1080/08912963.2015.1125898. hdl:11336/54277. S2CID 131364544.
- ^ Lopes, R.P (2021). "The Santa Vitória Alloformation: an update on a Pleistocene fossil-rich unit in Southern Brazil". Brazilian Journal of Geology. 51 (1). doi:10.1590/2317-4889202120200065. hdl:10183/220266. S2CID 234238367.
- ^ Copetti, Paula Lopes (2020). "A skull of the extinct tayassuid Brasiliochoerus stenocephalus (Lund in Reinhardt, 1880) (Mammalia, Cetartiodactyla) from the Late Pleistocene of southern Brazil: morphology and taxonomy". Historical Biology. 33 (9): 1898–1910. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1751837. S2CID 219054991.
- ^ Mayer, J.J.; Wetzel, R.M. (1986). "Catagonus wagneri". Mammalian Species (259): 1–5. doi:10.2307/3503829. JSTOR 3503829.
- ^ Parisi-Dutra, R. (2017). "Phylogenetic Systematics of Peccaries (Tayassuidae: Artiodactyla) and a Classification of South American Tayassuids". Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 24 (3): 345–358. doi:10.1007/s10914-016-9347-8. hdl:11336/54840. S2CID 27963274.