1,721,290 research outputs found
Beneziphius Lambert O. 2005, n. gen.
No full textGenus <i>Beneziphius</i> n. gen. <p> TYPE AND ONLY SPECIES. — <i>Beneziphius brevirostris</i> n. sp.</p> <p> ETYMOLOGY. — From “ <i>Bene</i> ” in honour of the Belgian naturalist Pierre-Joseph Van Beneden (1809-1894), whose work at the Catholic University of Louvain lead to major advances in the knowledge of the anatomy of extant and fossil cetaceans; and “ <i>ziphius</i> ”: name of the type genus of the family Ziphiidae.</p> <p> DIAGNOSIS. — The same as for the only species <i>B. brevirostris</i> n. sp.</p>Published as part of <i>Lambert O., 2005, Systematics and phylogeny of the fossil beaked whales Ziphirostrum du Bus, 1868 and Choneziphius Duvernoy, 1851 (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti), from the Neogene of Antwerp (North of Belgium), pp. 443-497 in Geodiversitas 27 (3)</i> on page 473, DOI: <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/5376445">10.5281/zenodo.5376445</a>
How to break a sperm whale’s teeth: dental damage in a large Miocene physeteroid from the North Sea Basin
No full textIn contrast to the suction-feeding, predominantly teuthophagous extant sperm whale, several Miocene physeteroids display proportionally larger teeth, deeply embedded in both upper and lower jaws. Together with other osteological features, these differences lead to the functional interpretation of these taxa as macroraptorial predators, using their teeth to capture and process large marine vertebrates. However, the assumption that strong forces applied to macroraptorial physeteroid teeth during powerful bites and contacts with bone material should result in major dental damage has not yet been tested. In the present work, we analyzed a large collection of physeteroid teeth with an enameled crown from the Miocene of the North Sea Basin. We especially focused on a set of 45 teeth of Scaldicetus caretti discovered in Antwerp (Belgium, southern North Sea Basin) and tentatively dated to the Tortonian (early late Miocene). Visual inspection and computed tomography (CT) scans revealed dental damage, including wear and breaks. The latter could be interpreted as chipping fractures, occurring along the crown, and vertical root fractures, observed along the apical part of the massive root. Chipping fractures are most likely due to contacts with hard material, whereas vertical root fractures may result from the application of strong and repetitive bite forces and/or contacts with hard material. Such results further support the interpretation of a series of Miocene physeteroids with proportionally large teeth as macroraptorial (rather than suction-feeding) top predators. Considering the size of the teeth of S. caretti, its most likely prey items were other large marine vertebrates
Considérations nouvelles à propos d'un nouveau cas de muscle présternal
No full textLambert O. Considérations nouvelles à propos d'un nouveau cas de muscle présternal. In: Bulletins de la Société d'anthropologie de Paris, IV° Série. Tome 5, 1894. pp. 237-241
Systematics and phylogeny of the fossil beaked whales Ziphirostrum du Bus, 1868 and Choneziphius Duvernoy, 1851 (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti), from the Neogene of Antwerp (North of Belgium)
No full textLambert O. (2005): Systematics and phylogeny of the fossil beaked whales Ziphirostrum du Bus, 1868 and Choneziphius Duvernoy, 1851 (Mammalia, Cetacea, Odontoceti), from the Neogene of Antwerp (North of Belgium). Geodiversitas 27 (3): 443-497, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.537644
Bovy (Lambert) O Pescador do litoral : Um Desconhecido?
No full textSéguy Jean. Bovy (Lambert) O Pescador do litoral : Um Desconhecido?. In: Archives de sciences sociales des religions, n°35, 1973. pp. 178-179
Tusk-bearing beaked whales from the Miocene of Peru: sexual dimorphism in fossil ziphiids
No full textNew well-preserved fossils from Peru reveal details of the dentition and morphology of the mandible and rostrum in 2 late middle to early late Miocene beaked whales (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Ziphiidae). Apical mandibular tusks are present in both Nazcacetus urbinai and Messapicetus sp. In the former the tusks are associated with a strong reduction of the postapical dentition, whereas in Messapicetus sp. a complete series of functional upper and lower teeth is retained. The larger sample of Messapicetus sp. from a single locality and age reveals intraspecific variation in size and shape of the tusks and surrounding structures. In addition, the rostrum of Messapicetus displays thickened premaxillae, dorsally closing the mesorostral groove. By comparison with modern beaked whales, most of them highly sexually dimorphic at the level of the tusks and rostrum, we propose that the tusks of Messapicetus were used in intraspecific fights between adult males. Strengthening of the rostrum through the dorsal closure of its transverse section would have reduced the risk of fractures when facing impacts
A high diversity in fossil beaked whales (Mammalia, Odontoceti, Ziphiidae) recovered by trawling from the sea floor off South Africa
No full textEight new genera and 10 new species of fossil beaked whales (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Ziphiidae) are described on the basis of cranial material recovered by trawling from the sea floor off South Africa. Although no exact stratigraphic information is known for these fossils, most are strongly phosphoritised (some even have phosphorite concretions attached), indicating that their fossilization could be related to one or more of the phosphogenic episodes that occurred in the South African coastal waters since the latest Oligocene. Considering the main phosphogenic epochs and the evolutionary level of the majority of the ziphiids here described, a middle-late Miocene age may be suggested for most, but not all, of these fossils. The new genera named here more than double the known diversity of the fossil beaked whales and represent more than one third of the total diversity of this family (fossil and extant). A parsimony analysis within the family including the Recent taxa reveals that some of the new fossil taxa belong to three extant subfamilies redefined here, while the others are outside these subfamilies; this indicates the presence in the past of some ziphiid lineages now extinct. In detail, Microberardius africanus n. gen., n. sp. is placed in the subfamily Berardiinae together with the Recent Berardius; Izikoziphius rossi n. gen., n. sp. and I. angustus n. gen., n. sp. are related to the Recent Ziphius inside the subfamily Ziphiinae and Khoikhoicetus agulhasis n. gen., n. sp., Ihlengesi saldanhae n. gen., n. sp., and Africanacetus ceratopsis n. gen., n. sp. belong to the Hyperoodontinae together with the Recent Hyperoodon, Mesoplodon, and Indopacetus. However, Nenga meganasalis n. gen., n. sp., Pterocetus benguelae n. gen., n. sp., and Xhosacetus hendeysi n. gen., n. sp., together with the Recent Tasmacetus, do not fit in any of the three subfamilies mentioned above. Taking into account the high number of unnamed fragmentary specimens, the fossil taxa listed above, together with Mesoplodon slangkopi n. sp. and Ziphius sp., probably represent only a part of the South African fossil ziphiid fauna(s), revealing an unexpected high diversity for the previously poorly known southern hemisphere fossil beaked whales. Such a high ziphiid diversity might be locally related to the upwelling system and resulting high productivity linked to the northward running cool oceanic Benguela Current entering the shallower waters along the south-west coast of South Africa and Namibia since the middle Miocene
The archaic beaked whale Ninoziphius platyrostris:clues on the evolution history of the family Ziphiidae (Cetacea, Odontoceti).
No full textBeaked whale mysteries revealed by seafloor fossils trawled off South Africa
No full textAn unexpectedly large number of well-preserved fossil ziphiid (beaked whale) skulls trawled from the seafloor off South Africa significantly increases our knowledge of this cetacean family. The eight new genera and ten new species more than double the known diversity of fossil beaked whales and represent more than one-third of this family (fossil and extant). A cladistic parsimony analysis based on 18 cranial characters suggested that some of these fossil taxa belong to the three extant ziphiid subfamilies, whereas others might represent extinct ziphiid lineages. Such high fossil ziphiid diversity might be linked to the upwelling system and the resulting high productivity of the Benguela Current, which has been in place and influenced conditions of the shallower waters along the southwest coast of South Africa and Namibia since the Middle Miocene.
Both fossil and extant South African beaked whale faunas show a wide range in body size, which is probably related to different dietary niches and to wide exploration of the water column. Moreover, most South African fossil ziphiids share two morphological traits with extant species, which indicates that some of the behaviours associated with these traits had likely already developed during the Neogene: 1) the absence of functional maxillary teeth—providing clear evidence of suction feeding; and 2) the heavy ossification of the rostrum in specimens assumed to represent adult males—a feature which likely helps prevent injury and damage on impact during male–male fighting
A new beaked whale (Odontoceti, Ziphiidae) from the middle Miocene of Peru
No full textOn the basis of a partial odontocete (toothed whale) skeleton (complete skull with associated ear bones, mandible, teeth, hyoid bones, and cervical vertebrae) from the middle Miocene (ca. 14-12 Ma) levels of the Pisco Formation at Cerro los Quesos, Pisco-Ica desert, southern coast of Peru, a new genus and species of beaked whale (Ziphiidae), Nazcacetus urbinai, is described. This small ziphiid, the best documented fossil species to date, is characterized by a strong reduction of the upper and lower dentitions except for a pair of large apical mandibular teeth, a Tasmacetus-like vertex, a short mandibular symphysis, and the abrupt elevation of the dorsal margin of the mandible towards the coronoid process. A phylogenetic analysis indicates that Nazcacetus is a crown ziphiid, in a more crownward position than Berardiinae and Tasmacetus, but branching before the Hyperoodontinae and Ziphiinae lineages. Several morphological traits observed in Nazcacetus, including the reduction of teeth, the small temporal fossa, and the large hamular process, suggest that this taxon possessed the suction feeding capacities of Recent ziphiids, a specialization possibly related to the exploitation by the early ziphiids of a new ecological niche. The presence of large apical teeth on the mandible of Nazcacetus, a character highly dimorphic in recent ziphiids, might indicate that sexual dimorphism was already present as early in ziphiid evolutionary history as the middle Miocene, a hypothesis supported by the nested position of Nazcacetus in the ziphiid phylogenetic tree
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