''Baguatherium'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

, belonging to the order

Pyrotheria Pyrotheria is an order (biology), order of extinct South American native ungulates, meridiungulate mammals. These elephant-like ungulates include the genus, genera ''Baguatherium'', ''Carolozittelia'', ''Colombitherium'', ''Griphodon'', ''Propyr ...

. It lived during the Early

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

, and its fossilized remains were discovered in

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Description

Although the fossils known are very partial (a

maxilla In vertebrates, the maxilla (: maxillae ) is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The two maxil ...

, a left

femur The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg. The Femo ...

, isolated

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat tooth, teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammal, mammals. They are used primarily to comminution, grind food during mastication, chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, '' ...

, they allow a comparison with those of similar animals better known, such as ''

Pyrotherium ''Pyrotherium'' ('fire beast') is an extinct genus of South American ungulate in the order Pyrotheria, that lived in what is now Argentina and Bolivia during the Late Oligocene.proboscidean Proboscidea (; , ) is a taxonomic order of afrotherian mammals containing one living family (Elephantidae) and several extinct families. First described by J. Illiger in 1811, it encompasses the elephants and their close relatives. Three liv ...

s or modern

tapir Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a Suidae, pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk (proboscis). Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, South and Centr ...

s. Compared to ''Pyrotherium'', ''Baguatherium'' possessed a slightly wider palate and the ridges on the molariform teeth were less oblique. A notable lingual crest connecting the posterior and anterior crests of those teeth was also present. The nasal bones, as in ''Pyrotherium'', were set back and indicate the presence of a

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular arthropod mouthparts, mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a pr ...

Classification

''Baguatherium jaureguii'' was first described in 2006, based on fossilized remains found near

Bagua Grande Bagua Grande is a town in the Amazonas region in northern Peru. It is capital of Utcubamba Province, and of Bagua Grande District. Bagua Grande has an estimated 42,396 inhabitants, having changed from a rural to an urban area after experiencing ...

, in the Department of Amazonas of

, in rocks belonging to the El Milagro Formation. The fossils indicates that it was a member of

, a clade of large sized mammals from the South American Eocene and Oligocene. In particular, the dental characteristics indicate that ''Baguatherium'' was a member of the Pyrotheriidae family, characterized by bilophodont teeth with high ridges.

Paleobiology

A study on the dental wear of this animal and of other pyrotheres indicate that ''Baguatherium'' fed on tough materials, who were crushed thanks to the large molariform teeth. It is possible that the adaptations of its dentition were dictated by the expansion, during the Oligocene, of open environments, characterized by tougher plants.R. Salas, J. Sánchez, and C. Chacaltana. 2006. A new Pre-Deseadan Pyrothere (Mammalia) from northern Peru and the wear facets of molariform teeth of Pyrotheria. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(3):760-769

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q55760745 Pyrotheria Oligocene mammals of South America Paleogene Peru Fossils of Peru Fossil taxa described in 2006 Prehistoric placental genera