Onthophagus pilauco sp. nov. (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae): evidence of beetle extinction in the Pleistocene–Holocene transition in Chilean Northern Patagonia

By

Tello Arriagada, Francisco
Verdú, José Ramón
Rossini, Michele
Zunino, M. (Mario), 1944-

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1043

Pages

133--145

Subjects

dung beetle , extinction , fossil beetles , new species , Pleistocene , South America

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1043.61706

 

Abstract

The South American Pleistocene–Holocene transition has been characterized by drastic climatic and diversity changes. These rapid changes induced one of the largest and most recent extinctions in the megafauna at the continental scale. However, examples of the extinction of small animals (e.g., insects) are scarce, and the underlying causes of the extinction have been little studied. In this work, a new extinct dung beetle species is described from a late Pleistocene sequence (~15.2 k cal yr BP) at the paleoarcheological site Pilauco, Chilean Northern Patagonia. Based on morphological characters, this fossil is considered to belong to the genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 and named Onthophagus pilaucosp. nov. We carried out a comprehensive revision of related groups, and we analyzed the possible mechanism of diversification and extinction of this new species. We hypothesize that Onthophagus pilaucosp. nov. diversified as a member of the osculatii species-complex following migration processes related to the Great American Biotic Interchange (~3 Ma). The extinction of O. pilaucosp. nov. may be related to massive defaunation and climatic changes recorded in the Plesitocene-Holocene transition (12.8 k cal yr BP). This finding is the first record of this genus in Chile, and provides new evidence to support the collateral-extinction hypothesis related to the defaunation.