Septidelphis

Septidelphis is an extinct genus of oceanic dolphins belonging to the family (Delphinidae). The type species is Septidelphis morii.

Septidelphis
Temporal range: Pliocene
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Fossil skull of Septidelphis morii
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Delphinidae
Genus: †Septidelphis
Bianucci, 2013

Species
  • †Septidelphis morii Bianucci 2013

Fossil records

This genus is known in the fossil records from the late Zanclean–early Piacenzian (Pliocene) (age range: from 3.81 to 3.19 million years ago). Fossils are found in the marine strata of Piedmont (northern Italy).[1][2]

Fossil skeleton of Septidelphis morii

Description

This genus is characterized by a condylobasal length reaching about 550 millimetres (22 in), by a long and narrow rostrum and by a wide premaxillae at the middle of rostrum. It shows an extreme posterior widening of the dorsal opening of the mesorostral canal.[2][3][4]

References
  1. Fossilworks
  2. Giovanni Bianucci (2013). "Septidelphis morii, n. gen. et sp., from the Pliocene of Italy: new evidence of the explosive radiation of true dolphins (Odontoceti, Delphinidae)" Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 33 (3): 722–740. doi:10.1080/02724634.2013.744757.
  3. The Coastal Paleontologist
  4. Morphobank
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