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''Kentriodon'' is an extinct genus of
''Kentriodon'' was the most diverse of all the kentriodontids, which are represented by seventeen described genera. These were small to medium-sized odontocetes with largely symmetrical skulls, and thought likely to include ancestors of some modern species. ''Kentriodon'' is also the oldest described kentriodontid genus, reported from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene.
Kentriodontines ate small fish and other nectonic organisms; they are thought to have been active echolocators, and might have formed pods. The diversity, morphology and distribution of fossils appear parallel to some modern species.
The Evolution of Whales
Adapted from National Geographic, November 2001 {{Taxonbar, from=Q2263062 Prehistoric toothed whales Prehistoric cetacean genera Oligocene cetaceans Miocene cetaceans Miocene mammals of Europe Oligocene mammals of Europe Miocene mammals of Asia Oligocene mammals of Asia Miocene mammals of North America Oligocene mammals of North America Miocene mammals of South America Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Neogene Peru Fossils of Peru Fossil taxa described in 1927
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 ...
related to modern-day dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
s. Fossils have been found in North America, Europe and Japan. Several species have been described.
Description
''Kentriodon'' was the most diverse of all the kentriodontids, which are represented by seventeen described genera. These were small to medium-sized odontocetes with largely symmetrical skulls, and thought likely to include ancestors of some modern species. ''Kentriodon'' is also the oldest described kentriodontid genus, reported from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene.
Kentriodontines ate small fish and other nectonic organisms; they are thought to have been active echolocators, and might have formed pods. The diversity, morphology and distribution of fossils appear parallel to some modern species.
Species
* ''Kentriodon pernix'' Kellogg, 1927 ( type) * ''Kentriodon fuchsii'' (Brandt, 1873) * ''Kentriodon hobetsu'' Ichishima, 1995 * ''Kentriodon obscurus'' (Kellogg, 1931) * ''Kentriodon schneideri'' Whitmore and Kaltenbach, 2008 * ''Kentriodon diusinus'' Salinas-Márquez, Barnes, Flores-Trujillo, Aranda-Manteca, 2014 * ''Kentriodon hoepfneri'' Kazár & Hampe, 2014 * ''Kentriodon nakajimai'' Kimura & Hasegawa, 2019Kimura, T., & Hasegawa, Y. (2019). A new species of Kentriodon (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Kentriodontidae) from the Miocene of Japan. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 39(1), e1566739. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2019.1566739 * ''Kentriodon sugawarai'' Guo & Kohno, 2021See also
*Evolution of cetaceans
The evolution of cetaceans is thought to have begun in the Indian subcontinent from even-toed ungulates 50 million years ago (mya) and to have proceeded over a period of at least 15 million years. Cetaceans are fully aquatic marine mammals bel ...
References
Further reading
* ''Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals'', Perrin, Würsig, ThewissenThe Evolution of Whales
Adapted from National Geographic, November 2001 {{Taxonbar, from=Q2263062 Prehistoric toothed whales Prehistoric cetacean genera Oligocene cetaceans Miocene cetaceans Miocene mammals of Europe Oligocene mammals of Europe Miocene mammals of Asia Oligocene mammals of Asia Miocene mammals of North America Oligocene mammals of North America Miocene mammals of South America Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Neogene Peru Fossils of Peru Fossil taxa described in 1927