Mammalodontidae

Mammalodontidae
Temporal range: Late Oligocene
Skull of Janjucetus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cetacea
Suborder: Mysticeti
Family: Mammalodontidae
Mitchell, 1989
Genera
Synonyms
  • Janjucetidae Fitzgerald, 2006

Mammalodontidae is a family of extinct whales known from the Oligocene of Australia[1] and New Zealand.[2]

There are currently two genera is this family: Janjucetus and Mammalodon. After a new cladistic analysis by Fitzgerald (2010), Janjucetus was transferred into Mammalodontidae, thereby making Janjucetidae a junior synonym of Mammalodontidae.[1]

Analysing the jaw morphology of the toothed mysticetes, Fitzgerald 2012 found eight mandibular characters unique to the members of Mammalodontidae:[3]

From these mandibular features, Fitzgerald 2006 concluded that in mysticetes enlarge oral cavities adapted for suction feeding evolved before mandibular adaptations for bulk filter feeding, like for example kinetic jaw joints.

References

  1. 1 2 Fitzgerald, E. M. G. (2010). "The morphology and systematics of Mammalodon colliveri (Cetacea: Mysticeti), a toothed mysticete from the Oligocene of Australia". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 158 (2): 367–476. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2009.00572.x.
  2. "Mammalodontidae". Fossilwork. Retrieved December 2013.
  3. Fitzgerald, Erich M. G. (2012). "Archaeocete-like jaws in a baleen whale". Biol. Lett. 8 (1): 94–96. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2011.0690.


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