Lipotidae is a family of river dolphins containing the possibly extinct baiji of China and the fossil genus Parapontoporia from the Late Miocene and Pliocene of the Pacific coast of North America. The genus Prolipotes, which is based on a mandible fragment from Neogene coastal deposits in Guangxi, China, has been classified as an extinct relative of the baiji, but is dubious. The oldest known member of the family is Eolipotes from the Late Miocene of Japan.
Physeteroidea is a superfamily that includes three extant species of whales: the sperm whale, in the genus Physeter, and the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale, in the genus Kogia. In the past, these genera have sometimes been united in a single family, the Physeteridae, with the two Kogia species in the subfamily Kogiinae; however, recent practice is to allocate the genus Kogia to its own family, the Kogiidae, leaving the Physeteridae as a monotypic family, although additional fossil representatives of both families are known.
Kentriodon is an extinct genus of toothed whale related to modern-day dolphins. Fossils have been found in North America, Europe and Japan. Several species have been described.
Brygmophyseter, known as the biting sperm whale, is an extinct genus of toothed whale in the sperm whale family with one species, B. shigensis. When it was first described in 1994, the species was placed in the genus Scaldicetus based on tooth morphology, but this was later revised in 1995. In 2006, it was classified into the genus Naganocetus, which is considered to be a junior synonym. The only known specimen, a nearly complete skeleton, was dated to be around 16–15 million years old. Brygmophyseter is thought to have been 6.5–7 meters (21–23 ft) long, and it probably had 11 or 12 teeth in the upper and lower jaws. Brygmophyseter is part of a group of macroraptorial sperm whales which tended to be apex predators using their large teeth to catch struggling prey such as whales. It had a spermaceti organ which was probably used for biosonar like in the modern sperm whale. The whale has made an appearance on The History Channel's TV series Jurassic Fight Club.
The Mayoan age is a period of geologic time from 11.8 to 10 Ma, within the Middle to Late Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Laventan and precedes the Chasicoan age.
Kentriodontidae is an extinct family of odontocete whales related to modern dolphins. The Kentriodontidae lived from the Oligocene to the Pliocene before going extinct.
Delphinoidea is the largest group of toothed whales, including 66 genera in 6 families. The largest living member of the superfamily is the killer whale, which can reach 6 tons, while the smallest is the vaquita.
Meherrinia is an extinct genus of inioid river dolphin from the Meherrin River, North Carolina, in the United States. First described in 2012, the dolphin is, in most respects, intermediate in form between the living Amazon river dolphin and the La Plata dolphin, although it is probably more closely related to the former. However, the fossil was discovered in what are believed to be marine deposits, dating from the late Miocene, whereas the Amazon river dolphin is an exclusively freshwater species. Meherrinia therefore was, as of 2012, the only known marine genus of the family Iniidae, although others have been discovered since. Only one species is known.
Scaldicetus is an extinct genus of highly predatory macroraptorial sperm whale. Although widely used for a number of extinct physeterids with primitive dental morphology consisting of enameled teeth, Scaldicetus as generally recognized appears to be a wastebasket taxon filled with more-or-less unrelated primitive sperm whales.
The Astoria Formation is a geologic formation in Washington state & Oregon. It preserves fossils dating back to the early to middle Miocene.
The Pisco Formation is a geologic formation located in Peru, on the southern coastal desert of Ica and Arequipa. The approximately 640 metres (2,100 ft) thick formation was deposited in the Pisco Basin, spanning an age from the Middle Miocene up to the Early Pleistocene, roughly from 15 to 2 Ma. The tuffaceous sandstones, diatomaceous siltstones, conglomerates and dolomites were deposited in a lagoonal to near-shore environment, in bays similar to other Pacific South American formations as the Bahía Inglesa and Coquimbo Formations of Chile.
Atocetus is an extinct genus of pontoporiid dolphin found in Miocene-age marine deposits in Peru and California.
Liolithax is an extinct genus of dolphin from the Middle Miocene (Serravallian) Temblor Formation of California.
Lophocetus is an extinct genus of dolphin belonging to the clade Delphinida that is known from late Miocene (Tortonian) marine deposits in California and Maryland. Although usually placed in Kentriodontidae, recent studies have found it only distantly related to Kentriodon.
Hadrodelphis is an extinct genus of dolphin once assigned to the paraphyletic/polyphyletic family Kentriodontidae. Remains have been found in the middle Miocene (Langhian) Calvert Formation of United States.
Brujadelphis is an extinct genus of river dolphin-like cetaceans of uncertain family placement from the Late Miocene epoch (Serravallian) of present-day Peru. The type species is Brujadelphis ankylorostris, recovered from the Pisco Formation.
Tagicetus is an extinct genus of dolphin belonging to the polyphyletic family Kentriodontidae.
Inticetus is an extinct genus of Early Miocene odontocete from the Chilcatay Formation, Pisco Basin, Peru.
Pisco Basin is a sedimentary basin extending over 300 kilometres (190 mi) in southwestern Peru. The basin has a 2 kilometres (6,600 ft) thick sedimentary fill, which is about half the thickness of more northern foreland basins in Peru.
