Astadelphis
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| Astadelphis Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Delphinidae |
| Subfamily: | Globicephalinae |
| Genus: | †Astadelphis Bianucci, 1996 |
| Species: | †A. gastaldii |
| Binomial name | |
| †Astadelphis gastaldii (Brandt, 1874) | |
Astadelphis is an extinct genus of Globicephaline delphinid cetacean from the Pliocene of the Sabbie d'Asti Formation of the Piedmont region of Northern Italy. This whale was less than 3 meters (9.8 ft).[1] Its type and only species is A. gastaldii.
The holotype of Astadelphis gastaldii (MGPT PU13884) was discovered in the late 19th century . It was named as an extinct species of the extant globicephaline genus Steno as Steno gastaldii by Brandt (1874). However Bianucci (1996) reclasified it is under the new genus name of Astadelphis. A.gastaldii is the only species of this genus.[2]
