Placoziphius
Extinct genus of toothed whales
Placoziphius is an extinct genus of toothed whales that belongs to the subfamily Physeterinae. It lived in Belgium during the Miocene epoch.
It is larger than all known kogiid species and was similar in size to Diaphorocetus and the smallest specimens of Orycterocetus.
01Discovery
Remains of this genus were first uncovered in Belgium south to Antwerp from the Berchem formation in the Edegem Sands member.
The holotype specimen (IRSNB M.530) consist of a fragmentary skull. This included most of the rostrum, fragments of the supraorbital processes and of the supracranial basin, the two squamosal and exoccipital sets, and an associated fragment of atlas.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Placoziphius”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Placoziphius.jpg by Pierre-Joseph van Beneden (1809-1894), Public domain
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