Kekenodon

Kekenodon; Temporal range: Late Oligocene PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
	Teeth of Kekenodon onamata
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	†Kekenodontidae; Mitchell, 1989
Genus:	†Kekenodon; Hector, 1881
Species
	†K. onamata; Hector, 1881;

Kekenodon is an extinct kekenodontid early whale from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) of New Zealand. Measuring 8–9 m (26–30 ft) long, it was a large raptorial whale which hunted marine mammals and penguins.^[1] Although at times classified as a basilosaurid, mysticete, or odontocete, recent work suggests that it represents a phylogenetic intermediate form between Basilosauridae and Neoceti.

Classification

Kekenodon was considered a member of the basilosaurid subfamily Dorudontinae in the classic monograph on Archaeoceti by Kellogg (1936).^[2]

"Squalodon" gambierensis from Australia is a close relative of Kekenodon.^[3]

Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Kekenodon is the "latest-surviving archaeocete, sister-taxon to the Neoceti."^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Corrie, Joshua E.; Fordyce, R. Ewan (2022). "A redescription and re-evaluation of Kekenodon onamata (Mammalia: Cetacea), a late-surviving archaeocete from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 196 (4): 1637–1670. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac019.
^ R. Kellogg. 1936. A Review of the Archaeoceti. Carnegie Institution of Washington 482:1-366
^ R. E. Fordyce. 2006. A southern perspective on Cetacean Evolution and Zoogeoraphy. Evolution and Biogeography of Australasian Vertebrates 755-782

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[C&F2022-1] Corrie, Joshua E.; Fordyce, R. Ewan (2022). "A redescription and re-evaluation of Kekenodon onamata (Mammalia: Cetacea), a late-surviving archaeocete from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 196 (4): 1637–1670. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac019.

[2] R. Kellogg. 1936. A Review of the Archaeoceti. Carnegie Institution of Washington 482:1-366

[3] R. E. Fordyce. 2006. A southern perspective on Cetacean Evolution and Zoogeoraphy. Evolution and Biogeography of Australasian Vertebrates 755-782

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