Junín: 10,000-year-old fossils discovered in the descent of Rio Salado

Dozens of fossil remains of glyptodonts and prehistoric ancestors of elephants and horses What they lived more than 10 thousand years ago the territory of Buenos Aires was found in the Salado river, at the height of the city Buenos Aires from Junín, after a descent of this stream due to the drought affecting the region.

This has been confirmed to the agency Telam José María Marchetto, coordinator of the Municipal Museum of Paleontology Legado del Salado (Mumpa) in Junín, who asked residents not to remove the remains that are on display since this is a paleontological megafauna site in Buenos Aires and they must inform the museum authorities.

<< The waters of the Salado river, in the section that crosses the city of Junín, fell more than normal due to the drought and this caused a large number of finds and rescues of various animal fossil remains who inhabited the region more than 10,000 years ago, ”said the specialist.

This is not the first time that a descent of a river has allowed the discovery of prehistoric remains; Already in 2018, after the floods of 2017 that affected the territory of Buenos Aires, jaw remains appeared on the coast, fangs, femurs, skulls and a large number of remains of the megafauna that inhabited there.

In this new downpipe, as Marchetto explains, “Pieces of Macrauchenia were rescued, an animal which in its morphology was very similar to the llama, but larger and heavier, since it weighed 1000 kilograms, with a short trunk, similar to that of the tapir and three toes per leg ”.

“In addition, pieces of Stegomastodon were found, an animal related to the current elephant, very similar in size, which weighed around 7,500 kilograms. and its tusks were straighter than those of the current elephant, ”he said.

He also reported that “remains of Toxodon, an animal similar to the hippo, were found, it even weighed and even exceeded 1000 kilograms, and its main feature was that the teeth of its jaw were arched, hence it was named after Toxodon, which means “arched tooth”.

Have been found also “the remains of giant sloths, including Megaterio, animal linked to the current laziness of the Amazon, but with the difference that the Megaterio arrived to measure about six meters in height standing on two legs and its weight reached 5000 kilos; and fossil gliptodonts, animals related to modern mules and armadillos, the largest representatives of which ended up having the dimensions of a car ”.

Marchetto stated that “pieces of somewhat smaller organisms also appeared like Equus Neogeus, related to the current horse, and morphologically, practically the same as the genus Dusicyon, which includes several species of foxes ”.

Members of the Mumpa Legado del Salado They were responsible for carrying out the rescues with the collaboration of the inhabitants of the city.

“Usually the neighbors collaborate, but there are always people doing inappropriate things and illegal searches of people have been found in the river who have taken and broken different pieces of fossils, including a fragment of Stegomastodon’s tusk. of great cultural and scientific importance ”, stressed Marchetto.

The specialist recalled that the remains are protected by national law for the protection of heritage 25.743, which establishes that “fossils can only be saved by qualified personnel, who know how to carry them out without damaging the fossils and who have the legal authorizations to do so”.

“Fossils have no economic value, they don’t belong to anyone, they belong to everyone, In other words, they are the heritage of the Nation, so they must be in a museum so that everyone can see and study them, ”he explained.

Warned that taking fossils “is considered an act of vandalism and he can be punished with fines or even imprisonment, in some cases ”.

Members of the museum are calling for the person or people who committed these acts to do so in ignorance of the law, and therefore “return the stolen pieces, bringing this whole situation to fruition.”

The coordinator of Mumpa has requested that those who find fossil remains can send a private message to the Facebook address of the Museo Legado del Salado Junín.

THE NATION

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