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Dilophodelphis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dilophodelphis
Temporal range: Early Miocene
3D model of a Dilophodelphis fordycei skull
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Genus: Dilophodelphis
Boersma, McMurry, and Pyenson, 2017
Species:
D. fordycei
Binomial name
Dilophodelphis fordycei
Boersma, McMurry, and Pyenson, 2017

Dilophodelphis is an extinct genus of river dolphin from Early Miocene (Burdigalian) marine deposits in Oregon. The type species, Dilophodelphis fordycei, was named in 2017.[1]

Biology and description

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Dilophodelphis is distinguished from other extinct relatives of the South Asian river dolphin in having enlarged supraorbital crests resembling a twin mountain arrangement, quite similar to the crests of the theropod dinosaur Dilophosaurus.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b A. T. Boersma, M. R. McCurry, and N. D. Pyenson. 2017. A new fossil dolphin Dilophodelphis fordycei provides insight into the evolution of supraorbital crests in Platanistoidea (Mammalia, Cetacea). Royal Society Open Science