Scaldiporia vandokkumi, a new pontoporiid (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Late Miocene to earliest Pliocene of the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands)
Background The family Pontoporiidae (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Inioidea) is currently represented in our oceans by just one species of diminutive dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei, franciscana). Although P. blainvillei is limited to coastal waters of the South Atlantic along Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina,...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c9e3567349114fbcaee1a2db85da4284 2024-01-07T09:45:02+01:00 Scaldiporia vandokkumi, a new pontoporiid (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Late Miocene to earliest Pliocene of the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands) Klaas Post Stephen Louwye Olivier Lambert 2017-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3991 https://doaj.org/article/c9e3567349114fbcaee1a2db85da4284 EN eng PeerJ Inc. https://peerj.com/articles/3991.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/3991/ https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359 doi:10.7717/peerj.3991 2167-8359 https://doaj.org/article/c9e3567349114fbcaee1a2db85da4284 PeerJ, Vol 5, p e3991 (2017) Cetacea Inioidea Pontoporiidae Westerschelde The Netherlands Late Miocene Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3991 2023-12-10T01:53:53Z Background The family Pontoporiidae (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Inioidea) is currently represented in our oceans by just one species of diminutive dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei, franciscana). Although P. blainvillei is limited to coastal waters of the South Atlantic along Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, multiple Miocene and Pliocene fossils indicate the past presence of members of the family in the South Atlantic, South Paciifc and North Atlantic oceans. Our comprehension of the origin and diversity of this clade and of the relationships of its members with other inioids is hampered by the fact that part of the described fossil specimens, especially from the North Atlantic realm, are cranial fragments often associated to limited stratigraphic information. Methods Based on an almost complete fossil cranium of pontoporiid from the Westerschelde estuary, The Netherlands, whose preservation allows for detailed morphological observations, we describe a new genus and species. The latter is compared to other pontoporiids, as well as a few non-pontoporiid inioids. A phylogenetic analysis is performed to investigate the relationship of S. vandokkumi with the best-known extinct and extant inioids. Palynological analysis of the sediment associated to the holotype is used to assess its geological age. Results and discussion The new genus and species Scaldiporia vandokkumi is characterized among others by greatly thickened premaxillary eminences reaching the level of the antorbital notch. Palynologically dated from the late Tortonian—earliest Zanclean (7.6–5 Ma, Late Miocene—earliest Pliocene), this new pontoporiid confirms the surprising past diversity of marine inioids in the North Atlantic area. Finally the content of the pontoporiid subfamily Brachydelphininae is briefly discussed. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Argentina Uruguay PeerJ 5 e3991 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Cetacea Inioidea Pontoporiidae Westerschelde The Netherlands Late Miocene Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
spellingShingle |
Cetacea Inioidea Pontoporiidae Westerschelde The Netherlands Late Miocene Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Klaas Post Stephen Louwye Olivier Lambert Scaldiporia vandokkumi, a new pontoporiid (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Late Miocene to earliest Pliocene of the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands) |
topic_facet |
Cetacea Inioidea Pontoporiidae Westerschelde The Netherlands Late Miocene Medicine R Biology (General) QH301-705.5 |
description |
Background The family Pontoporiidae (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Inioidea) is currently represented in our oceans by just one species of diminutive dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei, franciscana). Although P. blainvillei is limited to coastal waters of the South Atlantic along Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, multiple Miocene and Pliocene fossils indicate the past presence of members of the family in the South Atlantic, South Paciifc and North Atlantic oceans. Our comprehension of the origin and diversity of this clade and of the relationships of its members with other inioids is hampered by the fact that part of the described fossil specimens, especially from the North Atlantic realm, are cranial fragments often associated to limited stratigraphic information. Methods Based on an almost complete fossil cranium of pontoporiid from the Westerschelde estuary, The Netherlands, whose preservation allows for detailed morphological observations, we describe a new genus and species. The latter is compared to other pontoporiids, as well as a few non-pontoporiid inioids. A phylogenetic analysis is performed to investigate the relationship of S. vandokkumi with the best-known extinct and extant inioids. Palynological analysis of the sediment associated to the holotype is used to assess its geological age. Results and discussion The new genus and species Scaldiporia vandokkumi is characterized among others by greatly thickened premaxillary eminences reaching the level of the antorbital notch. Palynologically dated from the late Tortonian—earliest Zanclean (7.6–5 Ma, Late Miocene—earliest Pliocene), this new pontoporiid confirms the surprising past diversity of marine inioids in the North Atlantic area. Finally the content of the pontoporiid subfamily Brachydelphininae is briefly discussed. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Klaas Post Stephen Louwye Olivier Lambert |
author_facet |
Klaas Post Stephen Louwye Olivier Lambert |
author_sort |
Klaas Post |
title |
Scaldiporia vandokkumi, a new pontoporiid (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Late Miocene to earliest Pliocene of the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands) |
title_short |
Scaldiporia vandokkumi, a new pontoporiid (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Late Miocene to earliest Pliocene of the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands) |
title_full |
Scaldiporia vandokkumi, a new pontoporiid (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Late Miocene to earliest Pliocene of the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands) |
title_fullStr |
Scaldiporia vandokkumi, a new pontoporiid (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Late Miocene to earliest Pliocene of the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Scaldiporia vandokkumi, a new pontoporiid (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti) from the Late Miocene to earliest Pliocene of the Westerschelde estuary (The Netherlands) |
title_sort |
scaldiporia vandokkumi, a new pontoporiid (mammalia, cetacea, odontoceti) from the late miocene to earliest pliocene of the westerschelde estuary (the netherlands) |
publisher |
PeerJ Inc. |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3991 https://doaj.org/article/c9e3567349114fbcaee1a2db85da4284 |
geographic |
Argentina Uruguay |
geographic_facet |
Argentina Uruguay |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
PeerJ, Vol 5, p e3991 (2017) |
op_relation |
https://peerj.com/articles/3991.pdf https://peerj.com/articles/3991/ https://doaj.org/toc/2167-8359 doi:10.7717/peerj.3991 2167-8359 https://doaj.org/article/c9e3567349114fbcaee1a2db85da4284 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.3991 |
container_title |
PeerJ |
container_volume |
5 |
container_start_page |
e3991 |
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1787426481440292864 |