Echovenator
Extinct genus of mammals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Echovenator ("echolocation hunter") is a genus of primitive odontocete from late Oligocene (Chattian) marine deposits in South Carolina. It belongs to the Xenorophidae.[1]
| Echovenator Temporal range: Late Oligocene, | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | †Xenorophidae |
| Genus: | †Echovenator Churchill et al., 2016 |
| Species: | †E. sandersi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Echovenator sandersi Churchill et al., 2016 | |
Description and paleobiology
Echovenator is distinguishable from other xenorophids in having a paranaris fossa and fused fronto-nasal and maxillo-premaxillary sutures.[2] The earbone structure shows that this odontocete was clearly capable of echolocation.[2]
