Ontocetus

Ontocetus
Ontocetus
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Caniformia
Superfamily: Pinnipedia
Family: Odobenidae
Allen, 1880
Genus: †Ontocetus

Ontocetus is an extinct genus of walrus, an aquatic carnivoran of the family Odobenidae, endemic to coastal regions of the southern North Sea and the southeastern coastal regions of the U.S. during the Miocene-Pleistocene. It lived from 13.6 mya—300,000 years ago, existing for approximately 13.3 million years.[2]

Taxonomy

Originally named Alachtherium by Du Bus (1867) (type Alachtherium cretsii.).[3] It was It was assigned to Odobenidae by Palmer (1904) and Kellogg (1922). Ontocetus was named by Joseph Leidy (1859). Its type is Ontocetus emmonsi. It was considered monophyletic by Uhen (2010). It was synonymized subjectively with Hoplocetus by Trouessart (1898); it was considered a nomen dubium by Fordyce and de Muizon (2001)[4]. It was assigned to Sirenia by Cope (1875); to Physeterinae by Hay (1902) and Simpson (1945); to Physeteridae by Gill (1871), Palmer (1904), Barnes (1977) and Carroll (1988); to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Odobeninae by Kohno (2006); to Odobenini by Kohno and Ray (2008); and to Odobenidae by Ray (1975) and Uhen (2010)[5]. Ontocetus oxymycterus was named by Kellogg (1925). Its type specimen is USNM 10923 and is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Santa Barbara Lighthouse, which is in a Serravallian marine dolomite in the Monterey Formation of California. It was recombined as Scaldicetus oxymycterus by Kohno and Ray (2008).[6]

References

  1. ^ Lowry, L., Kovacs, K. & Burkanov, V. (IUCN SSC Pinniped Specialist Group) (2008). Odobenus rosmarus. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 22 March 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of data deficient
  2. ^ PaleoBiology Database: Ontocetus, basic info
  3. ^ B. Du Bus. 1867. Sur quelques mammiferes du crag d'Anvers. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts 24:562-577
  4. ^ R. E. Fordyce and C. de Muizon. 2001. Evolutionary history of the cetaceans: a review. Secondary Adaptations of Tetrapods to Life in the Water 169-233
  5. ^ M. D. Uhen. 2010. Mark D. Uhen's opinions
  6. ^ http://www.paleodatabase.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=114780&is_real_user=1 PaleoBiology Database: Ontocetus oxymycterus
  • Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters by Donald R. Prothero and Carl Buell
  • Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology by Annalisa Berta, James L. Sumich, and Kit M. Kovacs
This article related to prehistoric animals from order Carnivora is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.