Abstract
A new small probable Oligocene dolphin from Ecuador represents a new genus and species, Urkudelphis chawpipacha. The new taxon is known from a single juvenile skull and earbones; it differs from other archaic dolphins in features including widely exposed frontals at the vertex, a dorsally wide open vomer at the mesorostral groove, and a strongly projected and pointed lateral tuberosity of the periotic. Phylogenetic analysis places it toward the base of the largely-extinct clade Platanistoidea. The fossil is one of a few records of tropical fossil dolphins.
Highlights
Extant cetacean groups (Neoceti) originated from basilosaurid ancestors [1] during the Late Eocene [2], radiating to produce some crown family lineages by the end of the Oligocene [3,4,5]
The fossils were excavated with permission from the Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural: permission code N.040.DR5.INPC.2015
A new small dolphin from probable Oligocene (Chattian?) strata in Santa Elena, Ecuador is described as a new species and genus, Urkudelphis chawpipacha
Summary
Extant cetacean groups (Neoceti) originated from basilosaurid ancestors [1] during the Late Eocene [2], radiating to produce some crown family lineages by the end of the Oligocene [3,4,5]. This radiation involved an early rapid increase in morphological and ecological disparity, the globally-sparse Early Oligocene record, with its widely mentioned preservational bias [2, 4,5,6], provides little direct support. Hitherto, previouslyreported cetacean remains from Ecuador include a fragmentary ziphiid specimen (ear bones and small pieces of mandibles) and an isolated tooth possibly belonging to a ziphiid, from the Early-Middle Miocene [19] and cetacean ribs from the Late Pliocene to Pleistocene [20]
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