Eurhinodelphinidae is an extinct
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
of
toothed whale
The toothed whales (also called odontocetes, systematic name Odontoceti) are a parvorder of cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales possessing teeth, such as the beaked whales and sperm whales. Seventy-three species of t ...
s which lived from the
Oligocene
The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...
to the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
.
Members of the family possessed an elongated jaw similar in appearance to a swordfish.
Taxonomy
*Family Eurhinodelphinidae
**''
Ceterhinops''
**''
Eurhinodelphis''
**''
Iniopsis''
**''
Mycteriacetus''
** ''
Phocaenopsis''
**''
Schizodelphis''
**''
Vanbreenia''
**''
Xiphiacetus''
**''
Ziphiodelphis''
References
Prehistoric toothed whales
Prehistoric mammal families
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