A giant vampire (Mammalia, Chiroptera) in the Late Holocene from the Argentinean pampas: paleoenvironmental significance

The first fossil desmodontine record and the only well documented chiropteran fossil record from Argentina is described. A complete left upper canine was collected at Centinela del Mar (38 degrees 21'S58 degrees W, General Alvarado County, Buenos Aires Province) from fossil-bearing sediments referred to the Late Holocene. The tooth size is 25% larger than that of the modern vampire bat. Desmodus rotundus. We assign this tooth to Desmodus cf. D. draculae, an extinct species recorded in the Pleistocene-Holocene of South America (Brazil and Venezuela). The southernmost distribution of present-day Desmodus extends to northeast Buenos Aires province (35 degrees S). The presence of Desmodus some 600 km south of this present-day limit (July minimal isotherm of 10 degrees C) indicates that around 300 years BP the southeastern Buenos Aires province was at least 2 degrees C higher than modern July isotherm. The Desmodus tooth is associated with sigmodontine rodents characteristic of subtropical and temperate-warm areas (e.g., Pseudoryzomys simplex, Bibimys cf. B. torresi), and provides additional evidence to support this hypothesis. A correlation with a global warming phase is discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.