''Pachyacanthus'' is an extinct genus of
toothed whale that lived about 15.97 to 2.589 million years ago (Miocene and Pliocene). It contains the single species ''Pachyacanthus suessi''. The genus is known from European deposits in
Hungary,
Kazakhstan,
Austria and
Italy. The
type specimen consisted of a few fragments of a
rostrum and two fragmentary
tympanic bulla
The tympanic part of the temporal bone is a curved plate of bone lying below the squamous part of the temporal bone, in front of the mastoid process, and surrounding the external part of the ear canal.
It originates as a separate bone (tympanic ...
e. Skeletons from the
Sarmatian (Middle Miocene) of Austria did not include skulls.
Morphology
The genus is related to modern
South Asian river dolphin and is distinguished by
pachyostosis in the spinous processes of the postcervical vertebrae.
Paleoecology
The locations of discovery are thought to have corresponded to well-oxygenated, shallow water sustaining seagrasses similar to today's Mediterranean
neptune grass.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q65068936
Prehistoric cetacean genera
River dolphins