Xenorophus Temporal range:
Late Oligocene,
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | † Xenorophidae |
Genus: | †
Xenorophus Kellogg, 1923 |
Species | |
X. sloanii Kellogg, 1923 |
Xenorophus is a genus of primitive odontocete from late Oligocene ( Chattian) marine deposits in South Carolina belonging to Xenorophidae.
Xenorophus was originally described on the basis of a skull from the Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina in the collections of the USNM. [1] Later authors, but also Remington Kellogg who described the genus, classified it in the family Agorophiidae, which eventually became a repository for primitive odontocetes. Whitmore and Sanders (1977) and Fordyce (1981), however, preferred to treat Xenorophus as Odontoceti incertae sedis. [2] [3] [4] [5] A cladistic analysis by Mark Uhen published in 2008 recognized Xenorophus as belonging with Archaeodelphis and Albertodelphis in an odontocete clade more primitive than Agorophius or Simocetus, and named it Xenorophidae. [6]
Xenorophus was capable of echolocation like modern dolphins, judging from the cranial features of two other xenorophids, Echovenator and Cotylocara [7] [8] and from the shape of its own skull. [9] It had an estimated body length of 2.6 to 3 metres (8 ft 6 in to 9 ft 10 in). [9]
Xenorophus Temporal range:
Late Oligocene,
| |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | † Xenorophidae |
Genus: | †
Xenorophus Kellogg, 1923 |
Species | |
X. sloanii Kellogg, 1923 |
Xenorophus is a genus of primitive odontocete from late Oligocene ( Chattian) marine deposits in South Carolina belonging to Xenorophidae.
Xenorophus was originally described on the basis of a skull from the Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina in the collections of the USNM. [1] Later authors, but also Remington Kellogg who described the genus, classified it in the family Agorophiidae, which eventually became a repository for primitive odontocetes. Whitmore and Sanders (1977) and Fordyce (1981), however, preferred to treat Xenorophus as Odontoceti incertae sedis. [2] [3] [4] [5] A cladistic analysis by Mark Uhen published in 2008 recognized Xenorophus as belonging with Archaeodelphis and Albertodelphis in an odontocete clade more primitive than Agorophius or Simocetus, and named it Xenorophidae. [6]
Xenorophus was capable of echolocation like modern dolphins, judging from the cranial features of two other xenorophids, Echovenator and Cotylocara [7] [8] and from the shape of its own skull. [9] It had an estimated body length of 2.6 to 3 metres (8 ft 6 in to 9 ft 10 in). [9]