scholarly journals Nasal compartmentalization in Kogiidae (Cetacea, Physeteroidea): insights from a new late Miocene dwarf sperm whale from the Pisco Formation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aldo Benites‐Palomino ◽  
Jorge Vélez‐Juarbe ◽  
Alberto Collareta ◽  
Diana Ochoa ◽  
Ali Altamirano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Pisco Formation

scholarly journals <i>Koristocetus pescei</i> gen. et sp. nov., a diminutive sperm whale (Cetacea: Odontoceti: Kogiidae) from the late Miocene of Peru

Fossil Record ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Collareta ◽  
Olivier Lambert ◽  
Christian de Muizon ◽  
Mario Urbina ◽  
Giovanni Bianucci
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Physeter Macrocephalus ◽  
Southern Coast ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
Temporal Fossa ◽  
Pisco Formation ◽  
Feeding Specialization ◽  
History Of

Abstract. Among odontocetes, members of the family Kogiidae (pygmy and dwarf sperm whales) are known as small-sized and in many respects enigmatic relatives of the great sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus. Most of the still scanty fossil record of Kogiidae is represented by isolated skulls and ear bones from Neogene deposits of the Northern Hemisphere, with the significant exception of Scaphokogia, a highly autapomorphic genus from late Miocene deposits of the Pisco Formation exposed along the southern coast of Peru. Here we report on a new fossil kogiid from Aguada de Lomas, a site where the late Miocene beds of the Pisco Formation are exposed. This specimen consists of an almost complete cranium representing a new taxon of Kogiidae: Koristocetus pescei gen. et sp. nov. Koristocetus mainly differs from extant Kogia spp. by displaying a larger temporal fossa and well-individualized dental alveoli on the upper jaws. Coupled with a relatively elongated rostrum, these characters suggest that Koristocetus retained some degree of raptorial feeding abilities, contrasting with the strong suction feeding specialization seen in Recent kogiids. Our phylogenetic analysis recognizes Koristocetus as the earliest branching member of the subfamily Kogiinae. Interestingly, Koristocetus shared the southern coast of present-day Peru with members of the genus Scaphokogia, whose unique convex rostrum and unusual neurocranial morphology seemingly indicate a peculiar foraging specialization that has still to be understood. In conclusion, Koristocetus evokes a long history of high diversity, morphological disparity, and sympatric habits in fossil kogiids, thus suggesting that our comprehension of the evolutionary history of pygmy and dwarf sperm whales is still far from being exhaustive.

scholarly journals A new physeteroid from the late Miocene of Peru expands the diversity of extinct dwarf and pygmy sperm whales (Cetacea: Odontoceti: Kogiidae)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto COLLARETA ◽  
Olivier LAMBERT ◽  
Christian de MUIZON ◽  
Aldo Marcelo BENITES PALOMINO ◽  
Mario URBINA ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Dorsal Surface ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
Southeastern Pacific ◽  
Pisco Formation ◽  
Late Neogene

Nowadays, the odontocete family Kogiidae is monotypic and only includes two species of diminutive relatives of the great sperm whale Physeter Linnaeus, 1758. Conversely, a growing body of extinct species indicates that kogiids were diverse and disparate during the late Neogene. The fossil record of Kogiidae is, to date, represented by several cranial specimens from Mio-Pliocene localities of the Northern Hemisphere, with the significant Southern Hemisphere exception of the Pisco Formation of Peru, from which two genera were known so far, including Scaphokogia Muizon, 1988, a highly idiosyncratic form characterised by a distinctly spoon-shaped dorsal surface of the neurocranium and a downturned semicylindrical rostrum, which is even placed in its own subfamily Scaphokogiinae. Here, we report on two skulls of Kogiidae from the Messinian (upper Miocene) portion of the Pisco Formation exposed in the East Pisco Basin. These two skulls are referred to the new taxon Platyscaphokogia landinii n. gen., n. sp., which our phylogenetic analysis recovers as sister group of Scaphokogia, within the subfamily Scaphokogiinae. Although Platyscaphokogia n. gen. shares with Scaphokogia a remarkably spoon-like dorsal aspect of the neurocranium, it retains a non-pachyostotic, dorsoventrally thin rostrum that distinctly points anteriorly; as such, Platyscaphokogia n. gen. might be regarded as testifying an early stage in the evolution of the scaphokogiine cranial anatomy. Morphofunctional and palaeoecological considerations allow for hypothesising that Platyscaphokogia n. gen. was a raptorial physeteroid that foraged along the water column in relatively open-sea palaeoenvironments. In conclusion, our finds expand the palaeodiversity of Kogiidae, as well as our knowledge on the late Miocene sperm whales of the southeastern Pacific, and further suggest that the fossil content of the East Pisco Basin is crucial for reconstructing the Neogene evolutionary history of physeteroids.

scholarly journals New sperm whale remains from the late Miocene of the North Sea and a revised family attribution for the small crown physeteroid Thalassocetus Abel, 1905

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Apolline ALFSEN ◽  
Mark BOSSELAERS ◽  
Olivier LAMBERT
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Close Relative ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
The North ◽  
The Family ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Early Radiation ◽  
The One

In spite of a continuously expanding physeteroid fossil record, our understanding of the origin and early radiation of the two modern sperm whale families Kogiidae Gill, 1871 (including the pygmy and dwarf sperm whales, Kogia spp.) and Physeteridae Gray, 1821 (including the great sperm whale, Physeter Linnaeus, 1758) remains limited, especially due to the poorly resolved phylogenetic relationships of a number of extinct species. Among those, based on fragmentary cranial material from the late early to middle Miocene of Antwerp (Belgium, North Sea basin), the small-sized Thalassocetus antwerpiensis Abel, 1905 has been recognized for some time as the earliest branching kogiid. The discovery of a new diminutive physeteroid cranium from the late Miocene (Tortonian) of Antwerp leads to the description and comparison of a close relative of T. antwerpiensis. Thanks to the relatively young ontogenetic stage of this new specimen, the highly modified plate-like bones making the floor of its supracranial basin could be individually removed, a fact that greatly helped deciphering their identity and geometry. Close morphological similarities with T. antwerpiensis allow for the reassessment of several facial structures in the latter; the most important reinterpretation is the one of a crest-like structure, previously identified as a sagittal facial crest, typical for kogiids, and here revised as the left posterolateral wall of the supracranial basin, comprised of the left nasal (lost in kogiids for which the postnarial region is known) and the left maxilla. Implemented in a phylogenetic analysis, the new anatomical interpretations result in the new Belgian specimen and T. antwerpiensis being recovered as sister-groups in the family Physeteridae. Consequently, the geologically oldest kogiids are now dated from the Tortonian, further extending the ghost lineage separating these early late Miocene kogiid records from the estimated latest Oligocene to earliest Miocene divergence of kogiids and physeterids.

scholarly journals Stratigraphic framework of the late Miocene Pisco Formation at Cerro Los Quesos (Ica Desert, Peru)

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1020-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Di Celma ◽  
E. Malinverno ◽  
G. Cantalamessa ◽  
A. Gioncada ◽  
G. Bosio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Pisco Formation ◽  
Stratigraphic Framework

scholarly journals Middle/late Miocene hoplocetine sperm whale remains (Odontoceti: Physeteridae) of North Germany with an emended classification of the Hoplocetinae

Fossil Record ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Hampe
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Killer Whale ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Tooth Wear ◽  
Orcinus Orca ◽  
Killer Whales ◽  
Functional Tooth ◽  
North Germany ◽  
Middle Pliocene

Abstract. Hoplocetus ritzi n. sp. is a new hoplocetine physeterid from the Bolboforma fragori /subfragoris Zone of the middle/late Miocene mica-clay of Groß Pampau in Schleswig-Holstein, North Germany. The Hoplocetinae are known from the early Miocene to the Pliocene. Comparative studies of cranial characters and tooth morphology allow an emended diagnosis of the Hoplocetinae Cabrera, 1926. Four genera, Diaphorocetus, Idiorophus, Scaldicetus, and Hoplocetus are included in this subfamily. The pattern of functional tooth wear deduced from the described Hoplocetus ritzi n. sp. remains is reminescent of that known from Orcinus orca. The hoplocetine physeterids possibly occupied the killer whale niche before the killer whales appeared during the middle Pliocene. Mit Hoplocetusritzi n. sp. wird ein neuer hoplocetiner Physeteride beschrieben. Der Fund stammt aus der Bolboformafragori /subfragoris Zone des mittel-/obermiozänen Glimmertons von Groß Pampau in Schleswig-Holstein, Norddeutschland. Die Hoplocetinae sind vom unteren Miozän bis ins Pliozän nachgewiesen. Anhand vergleichender Untersuchungen an wenigen Schädelmerkmalen und der Zahnmorphologie gelingt eine Neudiagnose der Hoplocetinae Cabrera, 1926 und eine vorläufige Abgrenzung zwischen den als valid angesehenen Gattungen dieser Unterfamilie, Diaphorocetus, Idiorophus, Scaldicetus und Hoplocetus. Das Abkauungsmuster der Zähne von Hoplocetusritzi n. sp. erinnert an das des heutigen Orcinusorca. Möglicherweise sind die hoplocetinen Pottwale habituell den Schwertwalen, die erdgeschichtlich erstmals im mittleren Pliozän auftreten, vergleichbar. doi:10.1002/mmng.200600002

scholarly journals A new Miocene baleen whale from the Peruvian desert

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 160542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felix G. Marx ◽  
Naoki Kohno
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Feeding Strategy ◽  
Stomach Contents ◽  
Baleen Whale ◽  
Baleen Whales ◽  
Southern Peru ◽  
Pisco Formation ◽  
Stark Contrast ◽  
Lunge Feeding

The Pisco-Ica and Sacaco basins of southern Peru are renowned for their abundance of exceptionally preserved fossil cetaceans, several of which retain traces of soft tissue and occasionally even stomach contents. Previous work has mostly focused on odontocetes, with baleen whales currently being restricted to just three described taxa. Here, we report a new Late Miocene rorqual (family Balaenopteridae), Incakujira anillodefuego gen. et sp. nov., based on two exceptionally preserved specimens from the Pisco Formation exposed at Aguada de Lomas, Sacaco Basin, southern Peru. Incakujira overall closely resembles modern balaenopterids, but stands out for its unusually gracile ascending process of the maxilla, as well as a markedly twisted postglenoid process of the squamosal. The latter likely impeded lateral (omega) rotation of the mandible, in stark contrast with the highly flexible craniomandibular joint of extant lunge-feeding rorquals. Overall, Incakujira expands the still meagre Miocene record of balaenopterids and reveals a previously underappreciated degree of complexity in the evolution of their iconic lunge-feeding strategy.

The late Miocene elasmobranch assemblage from Cerro Colorado (Pisco Formation, Peru)

2017 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 168-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Landini ◽  
Alì Altamirano-Sierra ◽  
Alberto Collareta ◽  
Claudio Di Celma ◽  
Mario Urbina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Pisco Formation ◽  
Cerro Colorado

scholarly journals A New Condor (Ciconiiformes, Vulturidae) from the Late Miocene/Early Pliocene Pisco Formation, Peru

The Condor ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 107 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Stucchi ◽  
Steven D. Emslie
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
New Genus ◽  
New Genus And Species ◽  
Early Pliocene ◽  
Terrestrial Vertebrate ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Pisco Formation ◽  
Western Side ◽  
América Del Sur

AbstractWe report the oldest fossil condor (Vulturidae) from South America and the first from the Pisco Formation (14.0–2.0 Ma) of Peru, described herein as Perugyps diazi new genus and species. The Pisco Formation, exposed on the southern coast of Peru, has produced well-preserved and abundant marine and terrestrial vertebrate fossils from the late Miocene/early Pliocene (6.0–4.5 Ma) Montemar and Sacaco Sur localities, from where P. diazi was recovered. The new condor adds to our knowledge on the evolution and biogeographic distribution of New World vultures. The age of this new species supports the hypothesis that condors probably evolved in North America and entered South America by the late Miocene/early Pliocene. We believe it is likely that the first condors to reach South America probably did so via a coastal corridor along the western side of the Andes where they became part of the diverse coastal fauna in southern Peru.Un Nuevo Cóndor (Ciconiiformes, Vulturidae) del Mioceno Tardío-Plioceno Temprano de la Formación Pisco, PerúResumen. Se reporta el cóndor más antiguo de América del Sur y el primero para la Formación Pisco (14–2 Ma), y se describe como Perugyps diazi. De esta formación, situada en la costa sur del Perú, provienen gran cantidad de aves marinas en muy buen estado de conservación, en especial de los niveles Montemar y Sacaco Sur (Mioceno tardío/Plioceno temprano, 6.0–4.5 Ma), justamente de donde procede Perugyps. Este nuevo cóndor añade importante información sobre la evolución y distribución biogeográfica de estas aves, pues su edad apoya la hipótesis de que los cóndores probablemente evolucionaron en América del Norte y entraron a América del Sur entre el Mioceno tardío y el Plioceno temprano. Sugerimos que su llegada pudo realizarse por el corredor costero del lado occidental de los Andes, en donde pasaron a formar parte de la diversa fauna del sur del Perú.

Scaphokogia totajpe, sp. nov., a new bulky-faced pygmy sperm whale (Kogiidae) from the late Miocene of Peru

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. e1728538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aldo Benites-Palomino ◽  
Jorge Vélez-Juarbe ◽  
Rodolfo Salas-Gismondi ◽  
Mario Urbina
Keyword(s):  
Late Miocene ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Pygmy Sperm Whale
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