''Pericotoxodon'' is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

toxodontid Toxodontidae is an extinct family of notoungulate mammals, known from the Oligocene to the Holocene (11,000 BP) of South America, with one genus, '' Mixotoxodon'', also known from the Pleistocene of Central America and southwestern North Ame ...

notoungulate, from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recent" ...

period. Fossils of ''Pericotoxodon'' were found near Río Inuya and Mapuya in

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, and in

La Venta La Venta is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Olmec civilization located in the present-day Mexican state of Tabasco. Some of the artifacts have been moved to the museum "Parque - Museo de La Venta", which is in nearby Villahermos ...

, Colombia and

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, in deposits dated to the Middle Miocene.

Etymology

The genus name, ''Pericotoxodon'', is derived from "Perico", which was named after José Espíritu Pericó, who discovered the holotype in the La Gaviota locality from the Villavieja Formation of Colombia.Richard H. Madden. "21. A New Toxodontid Notoungulate" (335–354 pp.). In Kay, Richard F.; Madden, Richard H.; Cifelli, Richard L.; Flynn, John J. ''Vertebrate Paleontology in the Neotropics: The Miocene Fauna of a la Venta, Colombia''. Rowman & Littlefield Pub. Inc., 2/1/1997.

References

Toxodonts Miocene mammals of South America Neogene Peru Fossils of Peru Neogene Colombia Fossils of Colombia Laventan Honda Group, Colombia Fossil taxa described in 1997 Prehistoric placental genera {{notoungulate-stub