| Kentriodontidae Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Rudicetus squalodontoides skull | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Clade: | Delphinida |
| Superfamily: | Delphinoidea |
| Family: | † Kentriodontidae Slijper, 1936 |
| Genera | |
See text | |
Kentriodontidae is an extinct family of odontocete whales related to modern dolphins. The Kentriodontidae lived from the Oligocene to the Pliocene before going extinct. [1]
Kentriodontids have been variously divided into three or four subfamilies: Kampholophinae, Kentriodontinae, Lophocetinae, and Pithanodelphinae. [1] However, some cladistic studies have recovered Kentriodontidae as paraphyletic [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] while others have recovered the family as monophyletic. [7] [8]
For instance, Miminiacetus may be a close relative of Lipotidae, Brevirostrodelpis is basal to other delphinidans, [6] Incacetus is probably a member of Inioidea, [5] and Atocetus and Lophocetus have been recovered as the sister taxa to pontoporiids and ziphiids, respectively, while Hadrodelphis , Kampholophos , Macrokentriodon , and Miminiacetus are recovered in a clade phylogenetically intermediate between Kentriodon and derived delphinidans ((Inioidea + Lipotidae) + Delphinoidea). [9] Peredo et al. (2018) restrict Kentriodon to Kampholophos, Kentriodon, Rudicetus , and Wimahl , and remove Pithanodelphininae and its putative constituent genera ( Leptodelphis , Pithanodelphis , Sarmatodelphis , Sophianacetus , and Tagicetus ) as well as Microphocaena from Kentriodontidae. [10]
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