A HUMAN MODIFIED PSEUDOKOSSMATICERAS BRANDTI (AMMONITINA: KOSSMATICERATIDAE) FROM THE LATE CAMPANIAN OF CUBA AND THE SPECIES DISTRIBUTION IN THE CARIBBEAN PROVINCE

We report the discovery of a Late Cretaceous ammonite, Pseudokossmaticeras brandti (Redembatcher, 1873), in an archaeological context at Cueva Tres Bocas de Tanteo, located near the town of Rodas, Cienfuegos Province, in south-central Cuba. The ammonite manuport is much older than the middle Eocene limestone rock on the cave site and, thus, was likely transported from one of the nearby Upper Cretaceous deposits that outcrop several kilometers away. The ammonite specimen presents a broken umbilicus with the margins of the opening slightly modified. This is the first record of Pseudokossmaticeras brandti in Cuba, and along with another two partial specimens from Costa Rica, it further extends the range distribution of this taxon in the Caribbean province during the Late Cretaceous. Further examination of latest Campanian fossil localities in this region will help describe and characterize the original facies of the manuport and improve the biostratigraphic context of late Campanian deposits of the area. Moreover, the scarcity of Pseudokossmaticeras will help connect paleobiogeographic migration patterns and ancient oceanic currents connecting the Mediterranean Tethys Realm, the Caribbean Province, the Gulf of Mexico and the Western Interior Seaway.