Kentriodon

Kentriodon is an extinct genus of toothed whale related to modern-day dolphins. Fossils have been found in Europe, Japan, Korea, and the Western Hemisphere. Seven species have been described so far.

Kentriodon Temporal range: Late Oligocene–Middle Miocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
K. pernix skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	†Kentriodontidae
Genus:	†Kentriodon
Species
K. pernix Kellogg 1927 (type) K. obscurus (Kellogg 1931) K. diusinus Salinas Márquez et al. 2014 K. fuchsii (Brandt 1873) K. hobetsu Ichishima 1995 K. hoepfneri Kazár & Hampe 2014 K. schneideri Whitmore & Kaltenbach 2008
Synonyms
Grypolithax Kellogg 1931

Description

Restoration of two K. pernix

Kentriodon was the most diverse of all the kentriodontids, which are represented by seventeen described genera. These were small to medium-sized odontocetes with largely symmetrical skulls, and thought likely to include ancestors of some modern species. Kentriodon is also the oldest described kentriodontid genus, reported from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene.

Kentriodontines ate small fish and other nectonic organisms; they are thought to have been active echolocators, and might have formed pods. The diversity, morphology and distribution of fossils appear parallel to some modern species.

Species

• Kentriodon pernix Kellogg, 1927 (type)[1]
• Kentriodon fuchsii (Brandt, 1873)[2]
• Kentriodon hobetsu Ichishima, 1995[3]
• Kentriodon obscurus (Kellogg, 1931)[4]
• Kentriodon schneideri Whitmore and Kaltenbach, 2008[5]
• Kentriodon diusinus Salinas-Márquez, Barnes, Flores-Trujillo, Aranda-Manteca, 2014[6]
• Kentriodon hoepfneri Kazár & Hampe, 2014[7]

See also

• Evolution of cetaceans

References

1. R. Kellogg. 1927. Kentriodon pernix, a Miocene porpoise from Maryland. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 69(19):1-14
2. J. F. Brandt. 1873. Untersuchungen über die fossilen und subfossilen cetaceen Europa's. Mémoires de L'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Petersbourg, Series 7 20(1):1-372
3. H. Ichishima. 1995. A new fossil kentriodontid dolphin (Cetacea; Kentriodontidae) from the Middle Miocene Takinoue Formation, Hokkaido, Japan. The Island Arc 3:473-485
4. R. Kellogg. 1931. Pelagic mammals of the Temblor Formation of the Kern River region, California. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 19(12):217-397
5. F. C. Whitmore and J. A. Kaltenbach. 2008. Neogene Cetacea of the Lee Creek Phosphate Mine, North Carolina. Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication 14:181-269
6. F. M. Salinas-Marquez, L. G. Barnes, J. G. Flores-Trujillo and F. J. Aranda-Manteca. 2014. Una especie de delfín fósil (Cetacea; Delphinoidea; Kentriodontoidae) del Mioceno Medio de Baja California. Boletin de la Sociedad Geologica Mexicana 66(1):145-164
7. Emese Kazár and Oliver Hampe (2014). "A new species of Kentriodon (Mammalia, Odontoceti, Delphinoidea) from the middle/late Miocene of Groß Pampau (Schleswig-Holstein, North Germany)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34 (5): 1216–1230. doi:10.1080/02724634.2014.857347.

Further reading

• Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, Perrin, Würsig, Thewissen
• The Evolution of Whales, Adapted from National Geographic, November 2001