Atocetus
{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Mid-Late Miocene
~{{fossil range|13|7}}
| image = Atocetus iquensis skull mandible mio med.JPG
| image_caption = Skull of A. iquensis
| taxon = Atocetus
| authority = De Muizon 1988
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
- A. iquensis {{small|De Muizon 1988 (type)}}
- A. nasalis {{small|(Barnes 1985)}}
| synonyms =
}}
Atocetus is an extinct genus of pontoporiid dolphin found in Miocene-age marine deposits in Peru and California.{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1440-1738.1994.tb00127.x| title = A review of kentriodontine dolphins (Cetacea; Deiphinoidea; Kentriodontidae): Systematics and biogeography| journal = The Island Arc| volume = 3| issue = 4| pages = 486| year = 1994| last1 = Ichishima | first1 = H. | last2 = Barnes | first2 = L. G. | last3 = Fordyce | first3 = R. E. | last4 = Kimura | first4 = M. | last5 = Bohaska | first5 = D. J. | bibcode = 1994IsArc...3..486I}}
Description
The type species, Atocetus iquensis, is known from Serravallian-age strata of the Pisco Formation of Peru,De Muizon, 1988, p.131 while A. nasalis is known from Tortonian-age marine deposits of the Modelo Formation in California.L. G. Barnes. 1985. The Late Miocene dolphin Pithanodelphis Abel, 1905 (Cetacea: Kentriodontidae) from California. Contributions in Science 367:1-27. Barnes (1985) originally described the latter as a species of Pithanodelphis, but it was eventually transferred to Atocetus by Muizon (1988). The Miocene delphinidan "Champsodelphis" fuchsii from marine deposits in Austria was initially tentatively referred to Atocetus based on the discovery of partial skeletons from the Carpathian region with earbones similar to those of Atocetus but was eventually reassigned to Kentriodon following the discovery of additional earbones from Austria and Romania.E. Kazár, M. Vremir, and V. Codrea. 2004. Dolphin remains (Cetacea: Odontoceti) from the middle Miocene of Cluj-napoca, Romania. Acta Paleontologica Romanie 4:179-189.E. Kazár. 2006. Odontocete periotics (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Carpathian Basin, Middle Miocene (Badenian and Sarmatian Stages), including the Vienna Basin, Austria. Beitrage zur Palaontologie 30:269-292.
Phylogeny
Although Atocetus and other pithanodelphinines are usually assigned to Kentriodontidae, the cladistic analysis of Lambert et al. (2017) showed that Atocetus and Pithanodelphis form a clade with Tagicetus and Lophocetus that is not only phylogenetically more derived than other kentriodontids but is also phylogenetically intermediate between the baiji and members of Inioidea and Phocoenidae.Olivier Lambert, Giovanni Bianucci, Mario Urbina, Jonathan H. Geisler; A new inioid (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Delphinida) from the Miocene of Peru and the origin of modern dolphin and porpoise families. Zool J Linn Soc 2017; 179 (4): 919-946. doi: 10.1111/zoj.12479 However, a subsequent cladistic analysis by Post et al. (2017) recovers Atocetus as a member of Pontoporiidae, which includes the franciscana.Post K, Louwye S, Lambert O. (2017) Scaldiporia vandokkumi, a new pontoporiid (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Late Miocene to earliest Pliocene of the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands) PeerJ 5:e3991 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3991
References
{{Portal|Cetaceans|Paleontology}}
{{reflist}}
= Bibliography =
- {{citation |last=De Muizon |first=C |year=1988 |title=Les Vertébrés fossiles de la Formation Pisco (Pérou). Troisième partie: Les Odontocètes (Cetacea, Mammalia) du Miocène |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284145537 |journal=Editions Recherche Sur les Civilisations |volume=78 |pages=1–244 |accessdate=2019-03-13}}
{{Odontoceti|D.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q19720723}}
Category:Prehistoric cetacean genera
Category:Miocene mammals of North America
Category:Paleontology in California
Category:Fossils of the United States
Category:Miocene mammals of South America
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1988
{{paleo-whale-stub}}