''Parapontoporia'' is an extinct genus of

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 b ...

that lived off the

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

n coast from the Late

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 ...

until the genus' extinction during the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58The Paleobiology Database
/ref> It is related to the

baiji The baiji (; IPA: ; ''Lipotes vexillifer'', ''Lipotes'' meaning "left behind" and ''vexillifer'' "flag bearer") is a possibly extinct species of freshwater dolphin native to the Yangtze river system in China. It is thought to be the first dolph ...

References

SDNHM Fossil Mysteries Field Guide: Long-snouted Dolphin
Prehistoric toothed whales Miocene cetaceans Pliocene cetaceans Pliocene extinctions Dolphins Prehistoric cetacean genera Fossil taxa described in 1984 {{paleo-whale-stub