Macrodelphinus
Extinct genus of mammals
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Macrodelphinus is an extinct genus of primitive odontocete known from Early Miocene marine deposits in California.
| Macrodelphinus Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| |
| Macrodelphinus and Eurhinodelphis. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | †Eurhinodelphinidae |
| Genus: | †Macrodelphinus Wilson 1935 |
| Species: | †M. kelloggi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Macrodelphinus kelloggi Wilson 1935 | |
Biology
Macrodelphinus was an orca-sized odontocete similar to members of Eurhinodelphinidae in having a swordfish-like rostrum and upper jaw. Because of its size, and inch-long teeth, it is believed to have been an apex predator.
Classification
Macrodelphinus is known from a fragmentary skull from the Early Miocene Jewett Sand Formation of Kern County, southern California.[1] Although often classified as a member of Eurhinodelphinidae, the cladistic analysis of Chilcacetus recovers it outside Eurhinodelphinidae, less advanced than Eoplatanista.[2] The Miocene species "Champsodelphis" valenciennesii Brandt, 1873, based on a rostrum fragment from marine sediments in Landes, France, was assigned to Macrodelphinus by Kellogg (1944).[3]
