Cotylocara
Appearance
Cotylocara Temporal range: Late Oligocene,
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Life restoration | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | †Xenorophidae |
Genus: | †Cotylocara Geisler et al., 2014 |
Species: | †C. macei
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Binomial name | |
†Cotylocara macei Geisler et al., 2014 (type)
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Cotylocara is a genus of primitive odontocete from late Oligocene (Chattian) marine deposits of the Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina. It belongs to the Xenorophidae.
Paleobiology
[edit]Cotylocara was capable of echolocation like modern dolphins, as evidenced by its dense, thick and downturned rostrum, air sac fossae, cranial asymmetry, and exceptionally broad maxillae.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ Jonathan H. Geisler, Matthew W. Colbert, James L. Carew., 2014: A new fossil species supports an early origin for toothed whale echolocation. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature13086