''Eoauchenia'' is a genus of extinct proterotheriid from the
Late Miocene
The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...
and
Early Pliocene
Early may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Early, Iowa, a city
* Early, Texas, a city
* Early Branch, a stream in Missouri
* Early County, Georgia
* Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort
Music
* Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...
of
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. The genus was named by Ameghino in 1887 for the type species ''E. primitiva'', which was originally known from the early
Pliocene
The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Monte Hermoso Formation of the
Montehermosan
The Montehermosan age is a period of geologic time (6.8–4.0 Mya (unit), Ma) within the Miocene and Pliocene epochs of the Neogene used more specifically with South American Land Mammal Ages. It follows the Huayquerian and precedes the Chapadmalal ...
age of
Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires, officially the Buenos Aires Province, is the largest and most populous Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of the province an ...
, but has since been found in the
Cerro Azul Formation
The Cerro Azul Formation (), also described as Epecuén Formation, is a formation (geology), geological formation of Late Miocene (Tortonian, or Huayquerian in the South American land mammal age, SALMA classification) age in the Colorado Basin, Arg ...
of the late
Huayquerian
The Huayquerian () age is a period of geologic time (9.0–6.8 Ma) within the Late Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification. It follows the Chasicoan and precedes the Montehermosan age.
Etymology
T ...
of
La Pampa Province
La Pampa () is a sparsely populated province of Argentina, located in the Pampas in the center of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise San Luis, Córdoba, Buenos Aires, Río Negro, Neuquén and Mendoza.
History
In ...
. The fossils originally known included postcranial remains like foot material, but teeth, a skull and skeleton, and mandibles and further postcrania have since been referred to ''Eoauchenia'', which can be distinguished from ''
Epitherium
''Epitherium'' is an extinct genus of Litopterna, who belonged to the family Proterotheriidae. It lived during the Pliocene in South America. The fossils of this herbivorous ungulate were found in Argentina
Argentina, officially the Arg ...