Pliolestes venetus, GOIN ET AL., 2000

Abello, María Alejandra, Martin, Gabriel M. & Cardoso, Yamila, 2021, Review of the extinct ‘ shrew-opossums’ (Marsupialia: Caenolestidae), with descriptions of two new genera and three new species from the Early Miocene of southern South America, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 193 : -

PLIOLESTES VENETUS GOIN ET AL., 2000

( FIG. 9F, G)

Holotype: GHUNLPam 2339, left mandibular fragment with basal portion of i2, four a.u. and complete p2-m1 ( Goin et al., 2000, fig. 11)

Referred material: GHUNLPam 5458, left mandibular fragment with alveoli of the m2-4.

Temporal distribution: Late Miocene, Huayquerian SALMA.

Stratigraphic and geographic distribution: Cerro Azul Formation. The type comes from Bajo Giuliani , and GHUNLPam 5458 from Laguna Chillhué, La Pampa province, Argentina .

Measurements: Supporting Information, File S6, Table 1a.

Revised diagnosis: Pliolestes venetus differs from P. tripotamicus by a (1) smaller size, (2) distal end of the cristid obliqua more labially located, (3) larger metaconid, less backward positioned, (4) less developed shelf lingual to entocristid and (5) molar crown narrower basally.

Remarks: Pliolestes venetus is represented by two specimens, the type, which preserves part of its dentition, and the referred material (GHUNLPam 5458), which is too fragmentary for a close comparison with P. tripotamicus . Goin et al. (2000) described both specimens, so we only highlight the presence of a uniradiculate alveolus for m 4 in GHUNLPam 5458, a character not previously described. The presence of a uniradiculate m 4 in P. venetus , a character shared with P. tripotamicus , is a generalized trait among caenolestids, except most extant caenolestids and C. miocaenicus . In addition to the diagnostic characters evaluated by Goin et al. (2000), we added two extra molar traits (characters 4 and 5), which allow a further differentiation of both species.