Ninoziphius

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Ninoziphius
Temporal range: Miocene
Ninoziphius platyrostris.png
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Ziphiidae
Genus: Ninoziphius
Muizon, 1983

Ninoziphius is a genus of extinct of beaked whale. Fossils have been found in the Eastern United States as well as in South America with specimens being found in the Pisco Formation. [1] [2]

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Livyatan is an extinct genus of macroraptorial sperm whale containing one known species: L. melvillei. The genus name was inspired by the biblical sea monster Leviathan, and the species name by Herman Melville, the author of the famous novel Moby-Dick about a white bull sperm whale. Herman Melville often referred to whales as "Leviathans" in his book. It is mainly known from the Pisco Formation of Peru during the Tortonian stage of the Miocene epoch, about 9.9–8.9 million years ago (mya); however, finds of isolated teeth from other locations such as Chile, Argentina, the United States (California), South Africa and Australia imply that either it or a close relative survived into the Pliocene, around 5 mya, and may have had a global presence. It was a member of a group of macroraptorial sperm whales and was probably an apex predator, preying on whales, seals and so forth. Characteristically of raptorial sperm whales, Livyatan had functional, enamel-coated teeth on the upper and lower jaws, as well as several features suitable for hunting large prey.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pisco Formation</span> Geologic formation in Peru

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 Late Miocene up to the Early Pliocene, roughly from 9.6 to 4.5 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.

<i>Albicetus</i> Extinct genus of mammals

Albicetus is a genus of stem-sperm whales that lived during the Miocene Epoch, around 15 million years ago, and was discovered in Santa Barbara, California in 1909. It was categorized for decades as belonging to a group of extinct walruses erroneously thought to be sperm whales. It was named Albicetus, meaning "white whale", is a reference to the leviathan in Herman Melville's classic 1851 novel Moby-Dick.

Squaloziphius is an extinct genus of odontocete cetacean from the Early Miocene (Aquitanian) aged marine deposits in Washington state.

Khoikhoicetus is an extinct genus of ziphiid cetacean known from skulls found on seafloor sediments of probable Miocene age off the coast of South Africa and the Kerguelen Islands.

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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.

Xhosacetus is a genus of ziphiid cetaceans with a single species, Xhosacetus hendeysi. It was classified from fossils found off the coast of the Kerguelen islands in 1,145 meter deep water.

References

  1. Lambert, Olivier; De Muizon, Christian; Bianucci, Giovanni (April 2013). "The most basal beaked whale Ninoziphius platyrostris Muizon, 1983: clues on the evolutionary history of the family Ziphiidae (Cetacea: Odontoceti): The Archaic Beaked Whale Ninoziphius". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 167 (4): 569–598. doi:10.1111/zoj.12018 . Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  2. "Ninoziphius Muizon 1983 (beaked whale)". PBDB Taxon. Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 31 August 2024.