An Early Miocene kentriodontoid (Cetacea: Odontoceti) from the western North Pacific, and its implications for their phylogeny and paleobiogeography.

ABSTRACT: So-called 'kentriodontids' are extinct dolphin-like odontocetes known from the Early to Late Miocene worldwide. Although recent studies have proposed that they were monophyletic, their taxonomic relationships still remain controversial. Such a controversy exists partly because of the predominance of primitive morphologies in this taxon, but the fact is that quite a few 'kentriodontids' are known only from fragmentary skulls and/or isolated periotics. A new 'kentriodontid' Platysvercus ugonis gen. et sp. nov. is described based on a nearly complete skull from the upper Lower Miocene Sugota Formation, Akita Prefecture, northern Japan. Based on the phylogenetic analysis of P. ugonis described here, the monophyly of the 'kentriodontids' is confirmed, and it is recognized as the superfamily Ken

SUBMITTER: Guo Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9931143 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature