Decouverte d'un nouveau Diacodexis (Artiocactyla, Mammalia) dans l'Eocène inférieur de Silveirinha, Portugal.

Carmen Estravis and Donald E. Russell

Cite this article: Estravis C., Russell D. E., 1989. Decouverte d'un nouveau Diacodexis (Artiocactyla, Mammalia) dans l'Eocène inférieur de Silveirinha, Portugal. Palaeovertebrata 19 (1): 29-44.

Abstract

A new artiodactyl, Diacodexis antunesi n.sp., is described from the early Eocene of Silveirinha, Portugal. Comparisons are made with Diacodexis gazini GODINOT, 1978, D. varleti SUDRE et al., 1983, D. cf. varleti from Paris Basin sites, D. sp. from Dormaal and from localities in Spain and England, D. secans from North America and D. pakistanensis from Asia; affinities and evolutive tendencies are discussed. The presence of Diacodexis in the locality of Silveirinha confirms the very early Eocene age of the latter. As Diacodexis antunesi appears ta be more primitive than D. gazini from Rians (early Eocene of France), it lends corroboration to the interpretation (essentially based previously on condylarths) of the Silveirinha assemblage as the oldest Eocene fauna known in Europe and supports the hypothesis that early artiodactyls migrated from Europe to North America.