Eurhinodelphinidae
Encyclopedia
Eurhinodelphinidae is an extinct family
of toothed whale
s which lived from the Oligocene
to the Pliocene
. Members of the family possessed an elongated jaw similar in appearance to a swordfish.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of toothed whale
Toothed whale
The toothed whales form a suborder of the cetaceans, including sperm whales, beaked whales, dolphins, and others. As the name suggests, the suborder is characterized by the presence of teeth rather than the baleen of other whales.-Anatomy:Toothed whales have a single blowhole on the top of the head...
s which lived from the Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
to the Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
. Members of the family possessed an elongated jaw similar in appearance to a swordfish.
Taxonomy
- Family Eurhinodelphinidae
- Argyrocetus (syn. Doliodelphis)
- Ceterhinops
- EurhinodelphisEurhinodelphisEurhinodelphis is an extinct genus of Miocene cetacean. Its fossils have been found in France, Belgium, Maryland and California.-Description:...
- Iniopsis
- MacrodelphinusMacrodelphinusMacrodelphinus kelloggi was an orca-sized relative of the cetacean Eurhinodelphis. It lived off the coast of what is now California during the early Miocene. Because of its size, and inch-long teeth, it is believed to have been an apex predator. Macrodelphinus is known from a fragmentary skull...
- Mycteriacetus
- Phocaenopsis
- Rhabdosteus
- Schizodelphis (syn. Platyrhynchus, Cyrtodelphis, Schizodelphis pseudodelphis)
- Squaloziphius
- Vanbreenia
- Xiphiacetus
- Ziphiodelphis