Vanbreenia

Vanbreenia
A hypothetical reconstruction of the skull of V. trigonia.
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Whippomorpha
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	† Eurhinodelphinidae
Genus:	† Vanbreenia Bianucci & Landini, 2002 [1]
Species:	†V. trigonia
Binomial name
†Vanbreenia trigonia Bianucci & Landini, 2002 [2]

Vanbreenia is an extinct genus of toothed whale from the Miocene epoch, containing only the species Vanbreenia trigonia. ^[2] Its fossils have been found in the Miste area of Winterswijk in the Netherlands. ^[3]

Etymology

Vanbreenia was named after Dr. P.J.H. van Bree from the Zoological Museum Amsterdam. Its grammatical gender (in Latin) is feminine. ^[4]

Description

V. trigonia is small compared to other odontocete genera, and has a shorter rostrum as well, with a length of 90 millimeters, and a width and height of 95 and 47 millimeters and its base, respectively. Its shorter rostrum likely gave it swimming maneuverability to avoid predators and capture prey. ^[4]

References

1. Rees, Tony. "Vanbreenia Bianucci & Landini, 2002 †". Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera . Retrieved 3 July 2025.
2. "Vanbreenia trigonia†". Mindat . Hudson Institute of Mineralogy. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
3. "†Vanbreenia Bianucci and Landini 2002 (toothed whale)". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
4. Bianucci, Giovanni; Landini, Walter (19 December 2002). "A new short-rostrum odontocete (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the middle Miocene of the Eastern Netherlands" (PDF). Beaufortia. 52 (11). Naturalis Biodiversity Center: 187–196. Retrieved 3 July 2025.