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Mammalodon
Taxonomy
Mammalodon was named by Pritchard (1939) [Sepkoski's age data: T Ol-u Sepkoski's reference number: 1022]. Its type is Mammalodon colliveri. It was considered monophyletic by Geisler et al. (2011).
It was assigned to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Mysticeti by Fordyce (1982), Steeman (2007); and to Mammalodontidae by Fordyce and de Muizon (2001), Geisler and Sanders (2003), Fitzgerald (2004), Fitzgerald (2010), Geisler et al. (2011), Marx and Fordyce (2015), Boessenecker and Fordyce (2015), Marx et al. (2016), Fordyce and Marx (2016), Tsai and Kohno (2017), Berta (2017), Fordyce and Marx (2018), Robinson et al. (2024).
It was assigned to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Mysticeti by Fordyce (1982), Steeman (2007); and to Mammalodontidae by Fordyce and de Muizon (2001), Geisler and Sanders (2003), Fitzgerald (2004), Fitzgerald (2010), Geisler et al. (2011), Marx and Fordyce (2015), Boessenecker and Fordyce (2015), Marx et al. (2016), Fordyce and Marx (2016), Tsai and Kohno (2017), Berta (2017), Fordyce and Marx (2018), Robinson et al. (2024).
Species
M. colliveri (type species), M. hakataramea
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1939 | Mammalodon Pritchard pp. 151-159 figs. Fig. 1-3 |
| 1982 | Mammalodon Fordyce p. 424 |
| 2001 | Mammalodon Fordyce and de Muizon p. 176 |
| 2002 | Mammalodon Sepkoski |
| 2003 | Mammalodon Geisler and Sanders p. 27 |
| 2004 | Mammalodon Fitzgerald p. 206 |
| 2007 | Mammalodon Steeman p. 880 figs. Table 1 |
| 2010 | Mammalodon Fitzgerald p. 370 figs. Table 1 |
| 2011 | Mammalodon Geisler et al. p. 6 figs. Table 1 |
| 2015 | Mammalodon Boessenecker and Fordyce figs. Table 1 |
| 2015 | Mammalodon Marx and Fordyce figs. Figure 2 |
| 2016 | Mammalodon Fordyce and Marx p. 108 |
| 2016 | Mammalodon Marx et al. p. 104 |
| 2017 | Mammalodon Berta p. 166 |
| 2017 | Mammalodon Tsai and Kohno |
| 2018 | Mammalodon Fordyce and Marx p. 5 figs. Fig. 4 |
| 2024 | Mammalodon Robinson et al. p. 576 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
G. †Mammalodon Pritchard 1939
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†Mammalodon colliveri Pritchard 1939
†Mammalodon hakataramea Fordyce and Marx 2016
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| E. M. G. Fitzgerald 2010 | Emended diagnosis of Mammalodon colliveri: Mammalodon colliveri is a mammalodontid mysticete distinguished from J. hunderi by the following autapomorphic characters: rostrum has a bluntly rounded apex; viewed dorsally, the rostrum has a gently convex lateral profile; alveoli for the upper incisors are coa- lesced; body of the premaxilla is gracile and foreshortened; premaxilla is dorsoventrally flattened; nasal expands in width towards its anterior end; five dorsal infraorbital foramina in facial fossa; ascending process of the maxilla is transversely narrow and linguiform; posterior edge of the ascending process of maxilla lies in transverse line with the posterior edge of the nasal; orbit directed further anteriorly and anterodorsally; anteriormost point on the posterior edge of the supraorbital process of the frontal is laterally positioned; in cross-section, the parietals have a gently convex dorsal profile, with no salient sagittal crest along the midline of the braincase; nuchal crest projects anterodorsally and anterolaterally; alisphe- noid forms most of the roof of the pterygoid sinus fossa, with the superior lamina of the pterygoid limited to the anteromedial corner of the sinus fossa; involucrum of the tympanic bulla bears a transverse groove on its dorsal surface, which divides it into a wider posterior part and a narrower anterior one; in dorsal or ventral view the mandible is straight; body of the mandible is relatively gracile; mental foramina relatively large; and three upper and four lower molars present (i.e. polydont lower dentition). | |
| R. E. Fordyce and F. G. Marx 2016 | Small-sized mysticetes differing from chaeomysticetes in having teeth. Differ from all
toothed mysticetes except Janjucetus in having a foreshortened, dorsoventrally tall rostrum, a linguiform anterior border of the supraorbital process, a triangular wedge of the frontal separating the ascending process of maxilla from the posterolateral margin of the nasal, a roughly horizontal dorsal pro le of the braincase (relative to the lateral edge of the rostrum) and posteriorly reclined mandibular cheek teeth; further differ from all other toothed mysticetes except Janjucetus and Chonecetus in having a distinctly V-shaped fronto-parietal suture in dorsal view; from Llanocetus and two previously coded, undescribed archaic mysticetes (ChM PV4745; OU GS10897) in having both relatively and absolutely smaller posterior cheek teeth with proximally fused roots, and an inner posterior prominence of the tympanic bulla that is subequal to the outer prominence in posterior view; from all aetiocetids in having a more elongate intertemporal region and an anteroposteriorly broader coronoid process of the mandible; from Aetiocetus and Fucaia in lacking a medially expanded lacrimal and a dorsoventrally constricted mandible, and in having more robust cheek teeth with distally separate roots; from Chonecetus in having a broader, less anteriorly-thrust supraoccipital bearing a well-developed external occipital crest, and in lacking a parasagittal cleft on the dorsal surface of the parietal; from Aetiocetus in having a clearly heterodont dentition and closely-spaced posterior cheek teeth with well-developed enamel ridges on both the labial and lingual sides of the crown; from Morawanocetus in having a much more robust postorbital process of the frontal; from Ashorocetus in having a less steeply inclined supraoccipital shield and a somewhat more anteromedially oriented basioccipital crest; and from the enigmatic Willungacetus in having a clearly marked orbitotemporal crest extending posteriorly on to the intertemporal constriction and a rounded (rather than triangular), less anteriorly-thrust supraoccipital bearing a well-developed external occipital crest. Finally, Mammalodon differs from the only other described mammalodontid, Janjucetus, in having a rostrum with a bluntly rounded apex and a gently convex lateral pro le in dorsal view, coalesced alveoli for the upper incisors, a gracile, foreshortened and dorsoventrally attened premaxilla, an anteriorly expanded nasal, a transversely narrow, linguiform ascending process of the maxilla extending posteriorly as far as the nasal, a more anteriorly directed orbit, a more laterally oriented postorbital process, a transversely convex dorsal pro le of the parietals with no salient sagittal crest, a more laterally oriented nuchal crest, a broadly rounded apex of the supraoccipital shield in dorsal view, an anterior portion of the tympanic bulla that is squared (rather than obliquely truncated) in ventral view, an inner posterior prominence of the tympanic bulla that is subequal to the outer prominence in posterior view, a straight and comparatively gracile mandible bearing large mental foramina, and three upper and four lower molars, all of which (at least in adult specimens) are affected by heavy occlusal wear. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: subo = suborder, o = order | |||||
| Reference: Uhen 2004 | |||||
Age range: base of the Duntroonian to the top of the Chattian or 27.30000 to 23.04000 Ma
Collections (4 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duntroonian | New Zealand | M. hakataramea (152358) | |
| Chattian | Australia (Victoria) | M. new species 1, M. colliveri (48647) M. sp., M. colliveri (46166) | |
| Waitakian | New Zealand | M. sp. (74593) |