The fossil mammals collected by Charles Darwin in South America during his travels on board the HMS Beagle

Abstract

Duringthe first two years of his voyage aboard HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin collected a considerable number of fossil mammals from various localities in Argentina and Uruguay. Among these remains are those of large mammals that Darwin informally assigned to Megatherium and Mastodon, the only large taxa thenknown for South America, and of small and medium sized mammals that Darwin recognized as representing at least two rodents and a horse. The study of Darwin's collection was entrusted to Richard Owen, who described eleven taxa between 1837 and 1845, including the six following ones: Toxodon platensis, Macrauchenia patachonica, Equus curvidens, Scelidotherium leptocephalum, Mylodon darwini and Glossotherium sp. This contribution provides asynthesis of Darwin's preliminary assignments and evaluates the reasons that led him to recognize only megatheres and mastodonts for the large fossilremains. Also, it discusses the current taxonomic status of the taxa describedor erected by Owen between 1837 and 1845 and the influence that Owen'staxonomic and phylogenetic conclusions had on the development of Darwin's ideason evolution.