A new Monodontidae (Cetacea, Delphinoidea) from the lower Pliocene of Italy supports a warm-water origin for narwhals and white whales

• Main Authors: Bianucci, Giovanni, Pesci, Fabio, Collareta, Alberto, Tinelli, Chiara
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Taylor & Francis 2019
• Subjects: Physiology; FOS Biological sciences; Evolutionary Biology; 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified; FOS Earth and related environmental sciences; Ecology; 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified; Marine Biology; Inorganic Chemistry; FOS Chemical sciences; Science Policy; Nares; narwhal*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.9722102; https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/A_new_Monodontidae_Cetacea_Delphinoidea_from_the_lower_Pliocene_of_Italy_supports_a_warm-water_origin_for_narwhals_and_white_whales/9722102

A new taxon of monodontid cetacean, Casatia thermophila , gen. et sp. nov., is here described on the basis of a partial skull from lower Pliocene (5.1–4.5 Ma) marginal-marine deposits of Tuscany (central Italy). This new taxon belongs to Monodontidae based on the presence of a medial exposure of the...