Alvaro Mones & Natascha Heintz
Contributions from the Paleontological Museum, University of Oslo, No. 375, Oslo 1992
Authors' addresses:
Alvaro Mones, Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Casilla de Correo 399, 11.000 Montevideo, Uruguay
Natascha Heintz, Paleontologisk museum, Sars’ gate 1, N-0562 Oslo, Norway
Suggested reference to this catalogue:
MONES, A. & N. HEINTZ, 1992. Catalogue of the Conrad Møller collection of Cenozoic mammals from Uruguay. Contributions from the Paleontological Museum, University of Oslo 375, 14 pp.
© Paleontologisk museum, Oslo, 1992. ISBN 82-90915-04-7
Paper version available from Paleontologisk museum, Sars' gate 1, N-0562 Oslo, Norway
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Class Reptilia
- Class Mammalia
- Order Notungulata
- Order Perissodactyla
- Order Artiodactyla
- Order Proboscidea
- Order Carnivora
- Superorder Xenarthra
- Order Cingulata
- Order Tardigrada
Acknowledgements
Literature
Figures:
Fig. 1. Mr. Conrad Møller (1834?-1918), left, and Mrs. Christine Berg de Møller (?-1893), right. Oil portraits by Juan Manuel Blanes (Museo Romántico, Montevideo, Uruguay). <File size: 70 kb>
Fig. 2. A. Map of South America showing the location of Uruguay. B. Map of Uruguay. The square shows the enlarged area in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Detail of Montevideo Department and part of Canelones Department with the city of La Paz. The hatched area represents the most populated area of the city of Montevideo.
Fig. 4. Head of Toxodon platensis Owen (PMO A31963, skull, and PMO A31962, mandible). Lateral view, right side. The arrows show the position of the scars (see text). Scale: 10 cm. <File size: 79 kb>
Fig. 5. Head of Toxodon platensis Owen (PMO A31963, skull, and PMO A31962, mandible).Frontal view. The arrows show the position of the scars (see text). Scale: 10 cm. <File size: 69 kb>
Fig. 6. Caudal tube of Uruguayurus authochthonus Mones, dorsal view (PMO A31955). Scale: 10 cm. <File size: 68 kb>
Fig. 7. Mounted skeleton of Lestodon armatus Gervais, left side (PMO A31961). Scale: 50 cm. <File size: 91 kb>
Table 1. Tentative correlation of Neogene North American and South American Land Mammal Ages.
Table 2. The only systematic information previous to this Catalogue on the collection was given by Formica Corsi (1900:298) who identified the following taxa in Table 2. The right column shows our own identifications of what we think corresponds to the same material.
Abstract
This publication informs about an old collection of Pliocene-Late Pleistocene mammals from Uruguay, which was presented to the University of Oslo (Christiania) in 1887 by the late Mr. Conrad Møller, a Norwegian who lived in Uruguay. At present, the collection belongs to the Paleontological Museum of the University of Oslo and has 278 numbered specimens, among them a mounted skeleton of Lestodon armatus and the second known specimen of Uruguayurus authochthonus.
Key words: Fossils, Uruguay, Pliocene-Pleistocene, Mammalia, Reptilia.
Resumen
Este trabajo informa sobre una antigua colección de mamíferos del Plioceno-Pleistoceno tardío del Uruguay. La misma fue donada a fines del siglo pasado a la Universidad de Oslo (Christiania) por el Sr. Conrad Møller, un noruego radicado en el Uruguay. La colección se encuentra hoy depositada en el Paleontologisk museum de la Universidad de Oslo y cuenta con 278 especímenes catalogados, entre los cuales se destacan un esqueleto parcial montado de Lestodon armatus y el segundo ejemplar conocido de Uruguayurus authochthonus.
Palabras clave: Fósiles, Uruguay, Plioceno-Pleistoceno, Mammalia, Reptilia.
Introduction
Studying South American fossil vertebrates, four brief notes were found which mention the collection here presented. The first note (Maeso, 1882:126) tells us that the fossils were found in the sedimentary rocks in the neighbourhood of La Paz (Canelones) (en "terrenos de aluvión, ó sedimentarios... inmediatos de la Paz... el Sr. Moller, ha conseguido descubrir admirables restos fósiles"). A second mentioning (Anonymous, 1889:61) of the collection, appeared in the "Annual report of the Royal Norwegian Frederik's University" for the period 1887-1888, where it is referred to as "a valuable gift from Mr. Conrad Møller" (Af værdifulde gaver kan særskilt nævnes fra hr. Conrad Møller (Montevideo)), with no other remarks. The third note (Woodward, 1897:312) briefly refers to the collection, saying that it has been donated to the University of Christiania , , and the fourth note (Formica Corsi, 1900:298) gives a short account of the collection, including some scientific identifications. Until now, these are the only published references that have given merit to the Conrad Møller Collection. Therefore the senior author took contact with the Paleontological Museum in Oslo which led him to a visit to Oslo, in December 1987. The following Catalogue is the result of his stay.
The collector
Very little information about Conrad Møller's life is known. Most of it comes from his grandson Mr. Federico Moller de Berg (interviewed by A. Mones in Montevideo, November 16, 1987) who knew his grandfather in his young years and who by the time of writing this report, is 91 years old. Conrad Møller was born in Norway, around 1834 but we do not know exactly where. However, in the register book of the British Cemetery (Montevideo) it is stated that his nationality was Italian. It is also unknown, when he arrived in Uruguay.
Conrad Møller married a Norwegian, Christina Emilia Berg, who died in Montevideo on May 15, 1893. They had eighteen children. Two oil portraits of Mr. Møller and his wife, were painted by Juan Manuel Blanes (1830-1901), the greatest Uruguayan portrait painter, and can be seen in the Museo Romántico in Montevideo (Fig. 1). In Uruguay, Mr. Møller was an active trader, managing a house for precision instruments in Montevideo and exploiting a stone quarry in La Paz (Canelones Department), where he lived for many years (Figs. 2 and 3). His grandson remembers him going for promenades with his dog "Titan", a great dane, and with his walking cane made of ebony and ivory.
Møller presented his collection of fossil mammals from Uruguay to the University in Christiania, in 1887, and for this generous gift he was honoured with the St. Olav Condecoration, on December 1, 1891. A. S. Woodward (1897:312) also speaks of him as "Dr. Conrad Møller", but we have not been able to confirm that he actually had such a degree. Møller died in Montevideo on November 22, 1918 at an age of 84 years.
The collection
The Conrad Møller Collection is neither big nor does it contain many different species of South American fossil vertebrates. Nevertheless we thought it is valuable to present a list of these materials because the collection has many Lestodon remains and also because it includes the second known specimen of the very rare glyptodont species Uruguayurus authochthonus. We also want to contribute by making available this "unpublished fossil record" (Teichert, Sweet & Boucot, 1987).
Unfortunately there is no information about the origin of the fossils, neither geographical nor stratigraphical, but probably it is related with Mr. Møller's activities in the above mentioned stone quarry. His grandson has told that he made a big excavation at an unknown place on the banks of the Arroyo Miguelete (Montevideo), from where he supposes that most of the fossils came (Figs. 2 and 3). Although there is no absolute certainty, following Maeso (1882:126), Woodward (1897:312) and Formica Corsi (1900:298), all the specimens are supposed to be from Uruguay. Except for the
specimen of Uruguayurus authochthonus, which probably is of Montehermosan Mammal-Age (Pliocene s.l.) all the other specimens presumably come from deposits of Lujanian Mammal-Age (Late Pleistocene) (Table 1).
The following is a systematic list of all the specimens present in the collections of Paleontologisk museum in Oslo.
Abbreviations: MNHN - Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Montevideo. PMO - Paleontologisk museum, Oslo.
Class REPTILIA
Testudines indet.
Remains of a badly preserved plastron of a big turtle, with very fresh aspect, that makes it possible that it is not fossil at all.
PMO A44572 - 7 pieces; PMO A44573 - 7 pieces; PMO A44574 - 34 pieces; PMO A44575 - 20 pieces.
Class MAMMALIA
Order Notoungulata
Family Toxodontidae
Toxodon platensis Owen, 1837
An almost complete skull PMO A31963 with lower jaw PMO A31962.
On the left frontal and right nasal visible scars are present, similar to the one seen on the left frontal of the Toxodon platensis specimen that is on exhibit in the National Museum of Natural History in Montevideo (MNHN 947). These scars are possibly the result of fights between males (Figs. 4 and 5).
PMO A31953 - right femur
PMO A43440 - right premaxilla
PMO A43441 - left and right premaxillae
PMO A43434 - left m3
PMO A43435 - right i1
PMO A43455; A43462 - i1 and pm3 (left)
PMO A43053 - teeth from lower jaw, 40 pieces
PMO A43451 - part of pelvic girdle
PMO A43438 - right humerus, distal part
PMO A43452 - right ulna
PMO A43436; A43437 - two caudal vertebrae
PMO A43049 - A43052 - fragments of mandible, right ramus
PMO A43449 - right rib
PMO A43450 - left femur, proximal part
PMO A43447 - foot bone
PMO A43439 - right scapula, proximal part
Order PERISSODACTYLA
Family Equidae
Equus sp. (extinct)
PMO A31943 - lower jaw
PMO A31937 - A31942 - teeth
Equidae indet.
PMO A43443 - left astragalus
PMO A43442 - right? calcaneus
Order ARTIODACTYLA
Artiodactyla indet.
PMO A43430 - astragalus
Order PROBOSCIDEA
Family Gomphotheriidae
Gomphotheriidae indet.
PMO A43209 - metapod
PMO A43165 -A43168 - tusk remains
Order CARNIVORA
Family Ursidae
?Arctodus sp.
PMO A43040 - incomplete canine
Superorder XENARTHRA
Order CINGULATA
Family Glyptodontidae
Doedicurus clavicaudatus (Owen, 1847)
PMO A31954 - distal part of caudal tube, lacking the apex
PMO 133.309 - caudal tube
Panochthus sp.
PMO A31956 - most of the distal part of a caudal tube
PMO 133.298-133.308 - fragments of the dorsal shield
This specimen represents a species smaller than Panochthus tuberculatus (Owen, 1845). Due to the great variability in the ornamentation within this genus, we prefer to refer to it as Panochthus sp. until the systematics of this group has been reviewed.
PMO A43032 - right distal part of caudal tube
Uruguayurus authochthonus Mones, 1987
PMO A31955 - distal portion of caudal tube
The size and ornamentation are so similar to that of the type specimen that we do not hesitate to refer this specimen to Uruguayurus authochthonus. The somewhat bigger size of the dorsal marginal plates of the Oslo specimen are not thought to be of systematic value. The caudal tube in Oslo is thus the second specimen attributed to this species and the third specimen of the genus since it was recognized by Mones in 1987 (Fig. 6).
Glyptodon reticulatus? Owen, 1845
PMO A32957 - fragment of dorsal shield composed of 23 scutes
Glyptodon clavipes Owen, 1839
PMO A31958 - fragment of dorsal shield composed of 59 scutes
Glyptodon aff. G. clavipes
PMO A43045 - A43048 - numerous isolated dorsal shield scutes.
Glyptodontidae indet.
PMO A43042 - A43043 - two caudal vertebrae
PMO A43044 - left femur, distal part
PMO A31959 - a single scute of the posterior border of the dorsal shield.
Order TARDIGRADA
Family Megatheriidae
Megatherium americanum Cuvier, 1796
PMO A43034 - A43036 - molar teeth, fragment
PMO A43033 - right metacarpal IV
PMO A43118 - head of femur
Family Mylodontidae
Glossotherium sp.
PMO A43037 - part of left lower jaw with m2-4
PMO A43038 - part of right lower jaw with m1-4
PMO A43164 - fragment of palate
Lestodon armatus Gervais, 1855
PMO A31961 - a mounted skeleton, probably including remains from more than one individual. It lacks some vertebrae and ribs, most of the pelvis, right scapula, right femur, and some hand and foot bones. The skull lacks most of the neural part (Fig. 7).
Some other 240 bones have tentatively been attributed to this species, although further study might prove that some of them belong to other species or even other genera.
PMO A43022 - left femur
PMO A43025 - A43027 - three whole vertebrae
PMO A43104 -A43107 - mandible
PMO A43077 - left mandible, condylus and angulus
PMO A43079 - left mandible
PMO A43070, A43074 - fragments of mandible; right ramus
PMO A43075 - right mandibular condylus
PMO A43076 - right mandible
PMO A43031 - 35 isolated teeth
PMO A43095 - atlas (four complete and one incomplete)
PMO A43093 - 7th? cervical vertebra
PMO A43096 - vertebrae
PMO A43090 - vertebrae
PMO A43091 - last(?) dorsal vertebra
PMO A43092 - axis (1 complete and 5 bodies)
PMO A43078 - left scapula; glenoid cavity
PMO A43175 - fragment of left scapula
PMO A43199 - right humerus; shaft
PMO A43071 - right humerus; distal part
PMO A43363 - right humerus; proximal part
PMO A43073 - left humerus; shaft
PMO A43116 - left humerus; distal part
PMO A43109 - right femur; head
PMO A43110 - left femur; head
PMO A43115 - left femur; head
PMO A43114 - left femur; shaft
PMO A43119 - left femur; distal part
PMO A43364 - left radius; incomplete
PMO A43365 - right ulna; incomplete
PMO A43111 - right ulna; distal part
PMO A43112 - right tibia
PMO A43173, A43174 - right tibia
PMO A43113 - left tibia; shaft
PMO A43169 - A43172 - four patellae
PMO A43180, A43318, A43319, A43326, A43327 - right astragalus
PMO A43177, A43320 - A43325 - left astragalus
PMO A43179 - right calcaneus; part
PMO A43178 - left calcaneus
PMO A43297 - right navicular
PMO A43176, A43211 - A43215 - left navicular
PMO A43314, A43316 - right cuboid
PMO A43200, A 43201, A43313, A43315, A43317 - left cuboid
PMO A43328 - right cuneiform
PMO A43296 - left cuneiform
PMO A43335 - right metatarsal III
PMO A43191, A43196, A43304, A43305 - right metatarsal IV
PMO A43307, A43311 - left metatarsal III
PMO A43181, A43182, A43302, A43303, A43306, A43334 - left metatarsal IV
PMO A43301 - left metatarsal V
PMO A43195 - right metacarpal II
PMO A43189, A43331 - right metacarpal III
PMO A43192, A43329, A43333, A43336 - right metacarpal IV
PMO A43193, A43194, A43198, A43330 - right metacarpal V
PMO A43197, A43332 - left metacarpal III
PMO A43183, A43184, A43188 - left metacarpal IV
PMO A43202, A43208, A43354 - A43360 - hand bones
PMO A43216 - A43232 phalanges
PMO A43295 - ungual phalanx
PMO A43369 - right hand (18 bones)
PMO A43361 - partial left hand (five bones)
PMO A43362 - partial left hand (two bones)
PMO A43094 - rib; distal part
PMO A43023 - left ulna; shaft
PMO A43024 - ulna
PMO A43242 - A43249, A43251 - A43265, A43268, A43269 - ungual phalanges
PMO A43271, A43272, A43274 - A43281, A43283 - A43285, A43287 - A43292, A43339, A43340 - ungual phalanges
PMO A43341 - A43353 - phalanges I or II
PMO A43337, A43338 - undeterminable bone fragments
PMO A43151 - vertebra
Family Mylodontidae indet.
PMO A43041 - bone from left forefoot
PMO A43304 - A43305 - three fused vertebral bones
Tardigrada indet.
PMO A43039 - sacral vertebrae
The only systematic information previous to this Catalogue on the collection was given by Formica Corsi (1900:298) who identified the following taxa as given in Table 2. The right column shows our own identifications of what we think corresponds to the same material.
Acknowledgments
Prof. Dr. Gunnar Henningsmoen (PMO) provided kind help in searching for antecedents of the Collection. Mr. Federico Moller de Berg provided most of the biographical information about his grandfather, Mr. Conrad Møller. This research was possible thanks to grants to the senior author from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oslo, and the ROSTLAC/UNESCO Montevideo (Grant Nr. 241.931.7), as well as accommodation facilities given by the Zoological Museum, University of Oslo. The whole collection was catalogued by Ms. Elisabeth Sunding and the photographs of the fossils were taken by Mr. Per Aas. The technical editing was undertaken by Cand. scient. Hans Arne Nakrem. To all that helped us we extend our sincere thanks.
Literature
Anonymous. 1889. Mineralkabinettet.- Det kongelige norske Frederiks universitetets aarsberetning, 1887-1888: 61. Christiania.
Formica Corsi, A. 1900. Moluscos de la República Oriental del Uruguay.- Anales del Museo Nacional de Montevideo, 2 (15): 291-368, figs. 1-19.
Maeso, J. 1882. Las riquezas minerales de la República Oriental del Uruguay, 2:1-203. Empresa Tipográfica de Villalba y Barros, Montevideo.
Mones, A. 1987. Sobre tres especies de gliptodontes del Uruguay (Mammalia: Cingulata: Glyptodontidae).- Memorias IV Congreso Latinoamericano de Paleontología, 1: 500-515, figs. 1-8. Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
Teichert, C., W. C. Sweet & A. J. Boucot. 1987. The unpublished fossil record: implications.- Senckenbergiana lethaea, 68 (1-4): 5-19. Frankfurt am Main.
Woodward, A. S. 1897. (An account of a visit to South America, made in order to examine the fossil vertebrates of that country).- Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1897: 311-313. London.