AbstractThe western Andean belt of Argentina displays a comprehensive record of the Carboniferous and earliest Permian rocks so extensive that it allows an exceptional reconstruction of the Late Palaeozoic Ice Age of the southwestern margin of the South American Gondwana area. Severe endemism of the Gondwana biota during this period makes it difficult to achieve a precise correlation of these glacially influenced deposits with the coeval sequences of the Palaeoequatorial belt, where the subdivisions of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart are currently defined. The abundant paleontological record available from the Upper Palaeozoic deposits of central-western Argentina, central Patagonia, and eastern Argentina, makes it possible to recognize five successive faunal stages that allow a proper ordering of the sequences of this period. The proposed regional stages, and their assumed chronologic position regarding the standards of the current International Chronostratigraphic Chart, are: the Malimanian (late Tournaisian), Barrealian (Mid-Carboniferous or Serpukhovian-Bashkirian), Aguanegrian (Upper Pennsylvanian), Uspallatian (Asselian-Tastubian?) and Bonetian (Sakmarian). This paper aims to reiterate former recommendations about the convenience of having regional reference units and suggests the consideration of the available faunal stages as possible chronostratigraphic subdivisions for the Carboniferous-early Permian of the south-eastern margin of Gondwana.