New palaeothentid marsupials (Paucituberculata) from the middle Miocene of Quebrada Honda, Bolivia, and their implications for the palaeoecology, decline and extinction of the Palaeothentoidea

Paucituberculatan marsupials, particularly members of the family Palaeothentidae, were important components of South American mammal communities during much of the Cenozoic. However, after the late early Miocene, palaeothentid remains are rare in the fossil record, and the group is last recorded at late middle Miocene sites in Colombia, Bolivia and possibly Argentina. Here, we describe new specimens of palaeothentids from one of these late middle Miocene sites, Quebrada Honda, Bolivia, which include: (1) the first described lower dentitions of Acdestis maddeni, which exhibit distinctive features such as a greatly elongated paracristid and a single-rooted m4; (2) the first described late middle Miocene palaeothentines, representing two new species of Palaeothentes, P. serratus sp. nov. and P. relictus sp. nov., distinguished from other species of Palaeothentes by the presence of an anterobasal cingulid and reduced anterior trigonid crest, among other features; and (3) remains of a third new species, Chimeralestes ambiguus gen. et sp. nov., distinguished from other palaeothentids by its combination of a labially positioned cristid obliqua, reduced m4, and sharply curved entocristid. Phylogenetic and palaeoecological analyses show that Quebrada Honda palaeothentids were taxonomically and morphologically diverse and likely spanned a wide range of ecological niches. Combined with the wide geographical distribution of palaeothentoids during the late middle Miocene, this suggests that the disappearance of these marsupials was preceded by an abrupt rather than gradual decline in taxonomic and ecological diversity as well as geographical range.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:DA7E10BA-7203-4F5A-A3AB-F0E7352B101C