
A. E. Reyes-Céspedes, A. A. Carlini & J. D. Carrillo-Briceño
8
osteoderms and postcranial remains reported from Brazil,
Peru and Venezuela (Rincón & White 2007, Porpino et
al. 2009, Martínez & Rincón 2010). Rincón & White
(2007, gs. 2–3) described the species Pachyarmatherium
tenebris, based on few isolated osteoderms recovered from
Late Pleistocene cave sediments in the eastern Falcón state,
western Venezuela (Rincón & White 2007, g. 1). Porpi-
no et al. (2009), based on numerous osteoderms and post-
cranial remains, described the species Pachyarmatherium
brasiliense, for the late Pleistocene–Holocene in the Rio
Grande do Norte region, northeastern Brazil. Isolated os-
teoderms assigned to P. tenebris from the late Pleistocene
of Peru by Martínez & Rincón (2010) have been interpret-
ed as morphologically indistinguishable from those of P.
brasiliense, leading these authors to consider both species
as synonymous.
Late Pleistocene deposits in the Falcón state preserve
one of the best-recorded paleodiversity records of Cin-
gulata from that time in Venezuela. Such nds are known
from archaeological and paleontological excavations, in-
cluding some specimens collected on the surface in karst
systems (see Carrillo-Briceño 2015). Apart from Pachyar-
matherium, the fossil record of the Falcón state also in-
cludes glyptodonts with the genera Glyptodon (e.g., Royo
y Gómez 1960, Rincón & White 2007, Chávez-Aponte
et al. 2008a) and Glyptotherium (Carlini et al. 2008, 2022,
Carlini & Zurita 2010), the pampatheres Holmesina and
Pampatherium (Rincón 2004, Aguilera 2006, Chávez-
Aponte et al. 2008a, Carrillo-Briceño 2015), and the dasy-
podid Propraopus (Royo y Gómez 1960, Rincón & White
2007). In this contribution, we describe new fossil remains
assignable to Pachyarmatherium cf. brasiliense, which were
collected in the archaeological/paleontological site of
Taima-Taima and its surroundings in the Venezuelan state
of Falcón. e Taima-Taima site is located in the vicinity
of the Caribbean coast (Fig. 1), a region internationally
known to contain some of the oldest localities document-
ing human presence on the American continent (Bryan et
al. 1978, Carlini et al. 2008, 2022, and references therein).
Possible evidence of hunting on glyptodonts was reported
recently for the Taima-Taima and the Muaco (also in the
Falcón state) sites by Carlini et al. (2022). e presence
of Pachyarmatherium cf. brasiliense in the Late Pleistocene
of the Falcón state increases the known paleobiodiversity
of Cingulata for the region and expands the geographic
distribution of the species.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Four isolated osteoderms, one (MTT-V-320) collected
from the surface washed sediments adjacent to the old ex-
cavations in the Taima-Taima site (11° 29’ 57’’ N / 69° 31’
18’’ W), and the other three (MTT-V-212, -358, -479)
from the surroundings of the Taima-Taima park, a local-
ity referred here as Cucuruchú (Las Dunas) site (11° 30’
10’’ N / 69° 30’ 17’’ W). e later site is located on the
coastal area, near the mouth of the Cucuruchú Creek, ap-
proximately two kilometers east of the Taima-Taima site
(Fig. 1). To avoid the total loss of the specimens, due to the
erosion of the outcrops, these were collected by one of the
authors (AERC) during a paleontological rescue that took
place in 2015 as part of a workshop on protection of pale-
ontological heritage (Zavala & Reyes 2017). Nowadays on
the Taima-Taima excavation site there is an in situ museum
and a park (Fig. 1A–B) that was opened in the year 2000
(see Aguilera 2006, Carrillo-Briceño 2015). e studied
remains were compared with published bibliography, and
measurements were taken using a digital caliper. Com-
parative measurements presented in Table 1 were taken
from Downing & White (1995; for P. leiseyi), Rincón &
White (2007; for P. tenebris), and Porpino et al. (2009; for
P. brasiliense). e specimens are housed in the paleonto-
logical collection of the local Museum of Taratara with the
acronym MTT-V- (Museo de Taratara-Vertebrados).
GEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
e study area is located within the Taima-Taima
Park polygonal area (Fig. 1A), which covers an exten-
sion of approximately 14.8 km². e Taima-Taima site is
approximately 18 km NE of the city of Coro, and 3 km
NW of the Taratara town. e area is characterized by a
continuous exposure of folded strata that constitute La
Vela anticline (see Benites-Palomino et al. 2021, and refer-
ences therein). ere are no formally dened Pleistocene
sedimentary units in this area; most Pleistocene deposits
occur on rounded cobble and pebble layers, eroded and
deposited from the underlying Miocene limestone lay-
ers (Cruxent 1970, Bryan & Gruhn 1979, Carlini et al.
2022). Water springs are also common in the area (Bryan
et al. 1978; Aguilera 2006). Abundant remains of Pleis-
tocene fauna have been reported for the site of Taima-
Taima from the successive excavations carried out since
the 1960s, and include turtles (Testudinidae), bats (Phyl-
lostomidae), ground sloths (Megatheriidae, Mylodon-
tidae), glyptodonts (Glyptodontidae), native ungulates
(Macraucheniidae, Toxodontidae), artiodactyls (Cam-
elidae, Tayassuidae, Cervidae), perissodactyls (Equidae),
carnivore (Felidae, Canidae, Ursidae), and proboscideans
(Gomphotheriidae) (Casamiquela 1979; Bocquentin-
Villanueva 1982a; Chávez-Aponte et al. 2008b; Carrillo-
Briceño 2015, Carlini et al. 2022; and references therein).