Xenorophus
Xenorophus is a genus of primitive odontocete from late Oligocene (Chattian) marine deposits in South Carolina belonging to Xenorophidae.
| 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. sloani |
| Binomial name | |
| †Xenorophus sloani Kellogg, 1923 | |
Classification Edit
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]
Paleobiology Edit
Xenorophus was capable of echolocation like modern dolphins, judging from the cranial features of two other xenorophids, Echovenator and Cotylocara.[7][8]
References Edit
- ^ R. Kellogg. 1923. Description of an apparently new toothed cetacean from South Carolina. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 76(7):1-7
- ^ R. Kellogg. 1928. The History of Whales - Their Adaptation to Life in the Water. The Quarterly Review of Biology 3(1):29-76.
- ^ F. C. Whitmore and A. E. Sanders. 1977. Review of the Oligocene Cetacea. Systematic Zoology 25:304-320.
- ^ R. E. Fordyce. 1981. Systematics of the odontocete whale Agorophius pygmaeus and the Family Agorophiidae (Mammalia: Cetacea). Journal of Paleontology 55(5):1028-1045.
- ^ G. G. Simpson. 1945. The principles of classification and a classification of mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 85:1-350.
- ^ M. D. Uhen. 2008. A new Xenorophus-like odontocete cetacean form the Oligocene of North Carolina and a discussion of the basal odontocete radiation. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 6(4):433-452.
- ^ Jonathan H. Geisler, Matthew W. Colbert, James L. Carew. A new fossil species supports an early origin for toothed whale echolocation. Nature, 2014; DOI: 10.1038/nature13086
- ^ Morgan Churchill; Manuel Martinez-Caceres; Christian de Muizon; Jessica Mnieckowski; Jonathan H. Geisler (2016). "The Origin of High-Frequency Hearing in Whales". Current Biology. in press. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.06.004.