Macrodelphinus
{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}
{{speciesbox
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Early Miocene}}
| image = Macrodelphinus_kelloggi.jpg
| image_caption = Macrodelphinus and Eurhinodelphis.
| genus = Macrodelphinus
| parent_authority = Wilson 1935
| species = kelloggi
| authority = Wilson 1935
}}
Macrodelphinus is an extinct genus of primitive odontocete known from Early Miocene marine deposits in California.
Biology
Macrodelphinus was an orca-sized odontocete similar to members of Eurhinodelphinidae in having a swordfish-like rostrum and upper jaw. Because of its size, and inch-long teeth, it is believed to have been an apex predator.
Classification
Macrodelphinus is known from a fragmentary skull from the Early Miocene Jewett Sand Formation of Kern County, southern California.L. E. Wilson. 1935. Miocene marine mammals from the Bakersfield region, California. The Peabody Museum of Natural History Bulletin 4:1-143. Although often classified as a member of Eurhinodelphinidae, the cladistic analysis of Chilcacetus recovers it outside Eurhinodelphinidae, less advanced than Eoplatanista.O. Lambert, C. de Muizon, and G. Bianucci. 2015. A new archaic homodont toothed cetacean (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the early Miocene of Peru. Geodiversitas 37(1):79-108 The Miocene species "Champsodelphis" valenciennesii Brandt, 1873, based on a rostrum fragment from marine sediments in Landes, France, was assigned to Macrodelphinus by Kellogg (1944).R. Kellogg. 1944. Fossil Cetaceans from the Florida Tertiary. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College XCIV(9):433-471.
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{Paleodb|36756|Macrodelphinus}}
{{Odontoceti|O.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q6725256}}
Category:Miocene mammals of North America
Category:Prehistoric toothed whales
Category:Prehistoric cetacean genera
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1935
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