Coronodon

Coronodon
Temporal range: Early Oligocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Synapsida
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Parvorder: Mysticeti
Genus: †Coronodon
Geisler et al., 2017

Coronodon is a genus of toothed mysticetes from the Early Oligocene Ashley Formation of South Carolina.

Description

The rostrum of Coronodon is wide, judging by its straight sides and short mandibular symphysis. Despite being similar to some archaeocetes in having a rostrum that is twisted counterclockwise in anterior view, it differs in having posterior teeth with subequal cusps and an upturned anterior process of the maxilla. Coronodon differs from other toothed mysticetes in having anterior lower molars labially overlapping posterior lower molars.[1]

Phylogeny

Coronodon falls basally within Mysticeti, being closely related to the unnamed taxon ChM PV 5720 and more primitive than "Metasqualodon" symmetricus, Aetiocetidae, Mammalodontidae, and Llanocetus.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Jonathan H. Geisler, Robert W. Boessenecker, Mace Brown and Brian L. Beatty. 2017. The Origin of Filter Feeding in Whales. Current Biology. In Press. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.003


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.