Resumen

CHAVEZ-APONTE, Edwin O; ALFONZO-HERNANDEZ, Imerú  y  CARRILLO-BRICENO, Jorge D. Dental morphology of the gomphotheres from the locality of muaco, falcón state, venezuela. INCI [online]. 2008, vol.33, n.10, pp.771-775. ISSN 0378-1844.

Gomphotheres (Proboscidea: Gomphoteriidae) cover an extinct family of mastodonts with a depressed and elongated skull, whose molars present a couplet pattern of dome-shaped peaks along each tooth. In Venezuela, the Cuvieronius and Stegomastodon genera have been reported. They arrived to South America during the great American biotic interchange. This work synthesizes the information recorded from dental pieces of gomphotheres found at the Muaco Site, Falcón State, Venezuela. The samples include trilophodont (M1 and M2) and pentalophodont teeth. In the oldest specimens, the conical structures have been reduced to trefoils due to wear by mastication. The pieces include an almost complete jaw of one individual. The dental variability is insufficient for identification at the genus level. However, the information gathered can be of use in other palaeobiological studies about the megafauna of the Venezuelan Quaternary.

Palabras clave : Fósiles; Gomphoteriidae; Mastodontes; Morfología Dentaria; Muaco.