Parapontoporia

{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Late Miocene|Pliocene}}

| image = Parapontoporia Piscolithax-transformed.jpeg

| image_caption = Reconstruction of Parapontoporia pacifica (top) with the fossil porpoise Piscolithax tedfordi

| taxon = Parapontoporia

| authority = Barnes, 1984

| type_species = †Parapontoporia pacifica

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = * P. pacifica Barnes, 1984

• P. sternbergi Gregory and Kellogg, 1927
• P. wilsoni Barnes, 1985

}}

File:Fossil whales.jpg.]]

Parapontoporia is an extinct genus of dolphin that lived off the Pacific coast of North America from the Late Miocene until the genus' extinction during the Pliocene.{{cite journal|author=Barnes, L.G.|date=July 1984|title= Fossil odontocetes (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Almejas Formation, Isla Cedros, Mexico|journal= PaleoBios|volume=42|pages= 1–46|url=http://docubase.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/pl_dochome?query_src=pl_search&format=pdf&collection=PaleoBios_Archive_Public&id=57&show_doc=yes}}[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36795 The Paleobiology Database] It is related to the baiji.{{cite journal|journal=Palaeontology|volume=58|issue=3|pages=489–496|doi=10.1111/pala.12153|year=2015|last1=Boessenecker|first1=Robert W.|last2=Poust|first2=Ashley W.|title=Freshwater occurrence of the extinct dolphin Parapontoporia (Cetacea: Lipotidae) from the upper Pliocene nonmarine Tulare Formation of California |s2cid=128980362 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2015Palgy..58..489B }} Fossils have been found in California (Tulare Formation) and Mexico (Almejas Formation). The Tulare Formation is predominately freshwater, which suggests Parapontoporia may have been tolerant of both salt and fresh water.