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{{Short description|Extinct genus of carnivorans}}
{{Automatic taxobox
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = [[Miocene]] to Late [[Pleistocene]], {{fossil_range|13.6|0.3}}
| fossil_range = [[Miocene]] to Late [[Pleistocene]], {{fossil_range|13.6|0.3}}
| image =
| image = Ontocetus emmonsi.jpg
| image_caption = Specimen of ''O. emmonsi'' that was once the [[holotype]] of ''Alachtherium cretsii''
| image_caption =
| genus = Ontocetus
| taxon = Ontocetus
| parent_authority = [[Joseph Leidy|Leidy]], 1859
| parent_authority = [[Joseph Leidy|Leidy]], 1859
| species = emmonsi
| type_species = O. emmonsi
| authority = [[Joseph Leidy|Leidy]], 1859
| authority = [[Joseph Leidy|Leidy]], 1859
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = {{specieslist
|O. emmonsi|Leidy, 1859
|O. posti|Boisville, Chatar & Kohno, 2024
}}
}}
}}


'''''Ontocetus''''' is an extinct genus of [[walrus]], an [[Aquatic animal|aquatic]] [[carnivoran]] of the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Odobenidae]], endemic to coastal regions of the southern [[North Sea]] and the southeastern coastal regions of the U.S. during the [[Miocene]]-[[Pleistocene]]. It lived from 13.6 [[Annum|mya]]—300,000 years ago, existing for approximately {{Mya|13.6-0.3|million years}}.<ref>[http://paleodb.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?action=checkTaxonInfo&taxon_no=36786&is_real_user=1 PaleoBiology Database: ''Ontocetus'', basic info]</ref>
'''''Ontocetus''''' is an extinct genus of [[walrus]], an [[Aquatic animal|aquatic]] [[carnivoran]] of the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Odobenidae]], endemic to coastal regions of the southern [[North Sea]] and the southeastern coastal regions of the U.S. during the [[Miocene]]-[[Pleistocene]]. It lived from 13.6 [[Annum|mya]]—300,000 years ago, existing for approximately {{Mya|13.6-0.3|million years}}.<ref>[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36786 PaleoBiology Database: ''Ontocetus'', basic info]</ref>


==Taxonomy==
==Taxonomy==
The type species, ''Ontocetus emmonsi'', was named by [[Joseph Leidy]] in 1859 on the basis of a single tusk-like tooth ('''USNM 329064''') collected by [[Ebenezer Emmons]] from the early [[Pliocene]] ([[Zanclean]]) [[Yorktown Formation]] of [[North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Leidy J | year = 1859 | title = [Remarks on Dromatherium sylvestre and Ontocetus emmonsi] | url = | journal = Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia | volume = 1859 | issue = | page = 162 }}</ref>
The type species, ''Ontocetus emmonsi'', was named by [[Joseph Leidy]] in 1859 on the basis of a single tusk-like tooth ('''USNM 329064''') collected by [[Ebenezer Emmons]] from the early [[Pliocene]] ([[Zanclean]]) [[Yorktown Formation]] of [[North Carolina]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Leidy J | year = 1859 | title = [Remarks on Dromatherium sylvestre and Ontocetus emmonsi] | journal = Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia | volume = 1859 | page = 162 }}</ref>

⚫
In the meantime, marine mammals fossils were being unearthed in [[Neogene]] deposits in the vicinity of [[Antwerp]], [[Belgium]] as well as [[Suffolk]], [[England]]. One of these fossils was identified as an odobenid and named ''Alachtherium cretsii.'' in 1867.<ref>B. Du Bus. 1867. Sur quelques mammiferes du crag d'Anvers. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts 24:562-577</ref> An isolated tooth ('''RBINS 2892''') was named ''Trichechodon koninckii'' in 1871.<ref>P. J. Van Beneden. 1871. Les Phoques de la mer scaldisienne. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres det des Beaux-Arts de Belgique 32:5-18</ref> The fossils from Suffolk were named ''Trichechodon huxleyi'' in 1865.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Lankester E. R. | year = 1865 | title = On the sources of the mammalian fossils of the Red Crag, and the discovery of a new mammal in that deposit, allied to the walrus | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1448513| journal = Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London | volume = 21 | issue = 1–2| pages = 221–232 | doi=10.1144/gsl.jgs.1865.021.01-02.28| s2cid = 130245053 }}</ref> For decades, however, ''Ontocetus'' was tossed aside as a [[physeterid]], as the type specimen was believed to have been missing.<ref name=Kellogg25>{{cite journal | author = Kellogg R | year = 1925 | title = A fossil physeteroid cetacean from Santa Barbara County California | doi = 10.5479/si.00963801.66-2564.1 | journal = Proceedings of the United States National Museum | volume = 66 | issue = 27| pages = 1–8 }}</ref> For example, ''Ontocetus'' was at one time considered a synonym of the physeterid ''[[Hoplocetus]]''.<ref>E. L. Trouessart. 1898. Catalogus mammalium tam viventium quam fossilum 5:665-1264</ref> In the meantime, further Pliocene walrus fossils were collected from the North Atlantic, including the holotypes of ''Alachitherium antverpiensis'', ''Alachitherium antwerpiensis'', ''Prorosmarus alleni'', and ''Alachitherium africanum''.<ref>G. Hasse. 1909. Les Morses Pliocène poederlien à Anvers. Bulletin de la Société Belge de Géologie de Paléontologie et d'Hydrologie (Bruxelles) 23:293-322</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Rutten L | year = 1907 | title = On fossil trichechids from Zeeland and Belgium | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences | volume = 10 | issue = 1| pages = 2–14 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Berry|first1=E. W.|last2=Gregory|first2=W. K.|title=Prorosmarus alleni, a new genus and species of walrus from the upper Miocene of Yorktown, Virginia|journal=American Journal of Science|date=1906|volume=21|issue=126|pages=444–450|doi=10.2475/ajs.s4-21.126.444|bibcode=1906AmJS...21..444B|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1450148}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Geraads D | year = 1997 | title = Carnivores du Pliocene terminal de Ahl al Oughlam (Casablanca, Maroc) | journal = Géobios | volume = 30 | issue = 1| pages = 127–164 | doi=10.1016/s0016-6995(97)80263-x| bibcode = 1997Geobi..30..127G }}</ref>


⚫
In 2008, all specimens of Pliocene odobenids from the North Atlantic region were reviewed following the rediscovery of the ''Ontocetus emmonsi'' holotype in the 1990s. ''T. huxleyi'', ''A. cretsii'', ''A. antwerpiensis'', ''A. antverpiensis'', ''A. africanum'', and ''P. alleni'' were declared junior synonyms of ''O. emmonsi'' based on comparisons with USNM 329064. ''T. koninckii'', however, was found to be undiagnostic and designated a ''[[nomen dubium]]''.<ref name=KR08>{{cite journal | author = Kohno N., Ray C. E. | year = 2008 | title = Pliocene walruses from the Yorktown Formation of Virginia and North Carolina, and a systematic revision of the North Atlantic Pliocene walruses | journal = Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication | volume = 14 | pages = 39–80 }}</ref>
⚫
In the meantime, marine mammals fossils were being unearthed in [[Neogene]] deposits in the vicinity of [[Antwerp]], [[Belgium]] as well as [[Suffolk]], [[England]]. One of these fossils was identified as an odobenid and named ''Alachtherium cretsii.'' in 1867.<ref>B. Du Bus. 1867. Sur quelques mammiferes du crag d'Anvers. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts 24:562-577</ref> An isolated tooth ('''RBINS 2892''') was named ''Trichechodon koninckii'' in 1871.<ref>P. J. Van Beneden. 1871. Les Phoques de la mer scaldisienne. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres det des Beaux-Arts de Belgique 32:5-18</ref> The fossils from Suffolk were named ''Trichechodon huxleyi'' in 1865.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Lankester E. R. | year = 1865 | title = On the sources of the mammalian fossils of the Red Crag, and the discovery of a new mammal in that deposit, allied to the walrus | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1448513| journal = Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London | volume = 21 | issue = 1–2| pages = 221–232 | doi=10.1144/gsl.jgs.1865.021.01-02.28}}</ref> For decades, however, ''Ontocetus'' was tossed aside as a [[physeterid]], as the type specimen was believed to have been missing.<ref name=Kellogg25>{{cite journal | author = Kellogg R | year = 1925 | title = A fossil physeteroid cetacean from Santa Barbara County California | doi = 10.5479/si.00963801.66-2564.1 | journal = Proceedings of the United States National Museum | volume = 66 | issue = 27| pages = 1–8 }}</ref> For example, ''Ontocetus'' was at one time considered a synonym of the physeterid ''[[Hoplocetus]]''.<ref>E. L. Trouessart. 1898. Catalogus mammalium tam viventium quam fossilum 5:665-1264</ref> In the meantime, further Pliocene walrus fossils were collected from the North Atlantic, including the holotypes of ''Alachitherium antverpiensis'', ''Alachitherium antwerpiensis'', ''Prorosmarus alleni'', and ''Alachitherium africanum''.<ref>G. Hasse. 1909. Les Morses Pliocene poederlien a Anvers. Bulletin de la Societe Belge de Geologie de Paleontologie et D'Hydrologie (Bruxelles) 23:293-322</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Rutten L | year = 1907 | title = On fossil trichechids from Zeeland and Belgium | url = | journal = Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences | volume = 10 | issue = 1| pages = 2–14 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Berry|first1=E. W.|last2=Gregory|first2=W. K.|title=Prorosmarus alleni, a new genus and species of walrus from the upper Miocene of Yorktown, Virginia|journal=American Journal of Science|date=1906|volume=21|issue=126|pages=444–450|doi=10.2475/ajs.s4-21.126.444|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1450148}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = Geraads D | year = 1997 | title = Carnivores du Pliocene terminal de Ahl al Oughlam (Casablanca, Maroc) | url = | journal = Géobios | volume = 30 | issue = 1| pages = 127–164 | doi=10.1016/s0016-6995(97)80263-x}}</ref>


In 2024, reassessment of a pair of mandibles from the UK and a mandible from Belgium that had been assigned to ''O. emmonsi'' resulted in the establishment of a second species in the genus, ''O. posti''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Boisville|first1=M|last2=Chatar|first2=N|last3=Kohno|first3=N.|year=2024|title=New species of Ontocetus (Pinnipedia: Odobenidae) from the Lower Pleistocene of the North Atlantic shows similar feeding adaptation independent to the extant walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)|journal=PeerJ|volume=12|pages=e17666|doi=10.7717/peerj.17666|doi-access=free|pmc=11328838}}</ref>
⚫
In 2008, all specimens of Pliocene odobenids from the North Atlantic region were reviewed following the rediscovery of the ''Ontocetus emmonsi'' holotype in the 1990s. ''T. huxleyi'', ''A. cretsii'', ''A. antwerpiensis'', ''A. antverpiensis'', ''A. africanum'', and ''P. alleni'' were declared junior synonyms of ''O. emmonsi'' based on comparisons with USNM 329064. ''T. koninckii'', however, was found to be undiagnostic and designated a ''[[nomen dubium]]''.<ref name=KR08>{{cite journal | author = Kohno N., Ray C. E. | year = 2008 | title = Pliocene walruses from the Yorktown Formation of Virginia and North Carolina, and a systematic revision of the North Atlantic Pliocene walruses | url = | journal = Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication | volume = 14 | issue = | pages = 39–80 }}</ref>


===Misassigned species===
===Misassigned species===
As a side note, ''Ontocetus oxymycterus'' was named by [[Remington Kellogg]] in 1925 on the basis of '''USNM 10923''', collected from the middle [[Miocene]] ([[Serravallian]]) Monterey Formation in [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]], [[California]].<ref name=Kellogg25/> It was recombined as ''Scaldicetus oxymycterus'' by Kohno and Ray (2008), since ''O. emmonsi'' was odobenid and ''O. oxymycterus'' was physeteroid.<ref name=KR08/> Boersma and Pyenson (2015) made it the type species of the genus ''[[Albicetus]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|author=Alexandra T. Boersma and Nicholas D. Pyenson |year=2015 |title=''Albicetus oxymycterus'', a New Generic Name and Redescription of a Basal Physeteroid (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Miocene of California, and the Evolution of Body Size in Sperm Whales |journal=PLoS ONE |volume=10 |issue=12 |pages=e0135551 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0135551 |pmid=26651027 |pmc=4674121}}</ref>
''O. oxymycterus'' was named by [[Remington Kellogg]] in 1925 on the basis of '''USNM 10923''', collected from the middle [[Miocene]] ([[Serravallian]]) Monterey Formation in [[Santa Barbara, California|Santa Barbara]], [[California]].<ref name=Kellogg25/> It was recombined as ''Scaldicetus oxymycterus'' by Kohno and Ray (2008), since ''O. emmonsi'' was odobenid and ''O. oxymycterus'' was physeteroid.<ref name=KR08/> Boersma and Pyenson (2015) made it the type species of the genus ''[[Albicetus]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal|author1=Alexandra T. Boersma|author2=Nicholas D. Pyenson|author2-link=Nicholas Pyenson |year=2015 |title=''Albicetus oxymycterus'', a New Generic Name and Redescription of a Basal Physeteroid (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Miocene of California, and the Evolution of Body Size in Sperm Whales |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=12 |pages=e0135551 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0135551 |pmid=26651027 |pmc=4674121|bibcode=2015PLoSO..1035551B |doi-access=free }}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
Line 26: Line 34:
*''Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology'' by Annalisa Berta, James L. Sumich, and Kit M. Kovacs
*''Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology'' by Annalisa Berta, James L. Sumich, and Kit M. Kovacs


{{Pan-Pinnipedia|O.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7095037}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7095037}}


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[[Category:Miocene pinnipeds]]
[[Category:Miocene pinnipeds]]
[[Category:Pleistocene pinnipeds]]
[[Category:Pleistocene pinnipeds]]
[[Category:Prehistoric mammal genera]]
[[Category:Prehistoric carnivoran genera]]
[[Category:Prehistoric mammals of Europe]]
[[Category:Prehistoric mammals of Europe]]
[[Category:Prehistoric pinnipeds of North America]]
[[Category:Prehistoric pinnipeds of North America]]

Latest revision as of 20:08, 18 November 2024

Ontocetus
Temporal range: Miocene to Late Pleistocene, 13.6–0.3 Ma
Specimen of O. emmonsi that was once the holotype of Alachtherium cretsii
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Clade: Pinnipedia
Family: Odobenidae
Subfamily: Odobeninae
Leidy, 1859
Genus: †Ontocetus
Leidy, 1859
Type species
O. emmonsi
Species
  • O. emmonsi Leidy, 1859
  • O. posti Boisville, Chatar & Kohno, 2024

Ontocetus is an extinct genus of walrus, an aquatic carnivoran of the family Odobenidae, endemic to coastal regions of the southern North Sea and the southeastern coastal regions of the U.S. during the Miocene-Pleistocene. It lived from 13.6 mya—300,000 years ago, existing for approximately 13.3 million years.[1]

Taxonomy

[edit]

The type species, Ontocetus emmonsi, was named by Joseph Leidy in 1859 on the basis of a single tusk-like tooth (USNM 329064) collected by Ebenezer Emmons from the early Pliocene (Zanclean) Yorktown Formation of North Carolina.[2]

In the meantime, marine mammals fossils were being unearthed in Neogene deposits in the vicinity of Antwerp, Belgium as well as Suffolk, England. One of these fossils was identified as an odobenid and named Alachtherium cretsii. in 1867.[3] An isolated tooth (RBINS 2892) was named Trichechodon koninckii in 1871.[4] The fossils from Suffolk were named Trichechodon huxleyi in 1865.[5] For decades, however, Ontocetus was tossed aside as a physeterid, as the type specimen was believed to have been missing.[6] For example, Ontocetus was at one time considered a synonym of the physeterid Hoplocetus.[7] In the meantime, further Pliocene walrus fossils were collected from the North Atlantic, including the holotypes of Alachitherium antverpiensis, Alachitherium antwerpiensis, Prorosmarus alleni, and Alachitherium africanum.[8][9][10][11]

In 2008, all specimens of Pliocene odobenids from the North Atlantic region were reviewed following the rediscovery of the Ontocetus emmonsi holotype in the 1990s. T. huxleyi, A. cretsii, A. antwerpiensis, A. antverpiensis, A. africanum, and P. alleni were declared junior synonyms of O. emmonsi based on comparisons with USNM 329064. T. koninckii, however, was found to be undiagnostic and designated a nomen dubium.[12]

In 2024, reassessment of a pair of mandibles from the UK and a mandible from Belgium that had been assigned to O. emmonsi resulted in the establishment of a second species in the genus, O. posti.[13]

Misassigned species

[edit]

O. oxymycterus was named by Remington Kellogg in 1925 on the basis of USNM 10923, collected from the middle Miocene (Serravallian) Monterey Formation in Santa Barbara, California.[6] It was recombined as Scaldicetus oxymycterus by Kohno and Ray (2008), since O. emmonsi was odobenid and O. oxymycterus was physeteroid.[12] Boersma and Pyenson (2015) made it the type species of the genus Albicetus.[14]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ PaleoBiology Database: Ontocetus, basic info
  2. ^ Leidy J (1859). "[Remarks on Dromatherium sylvestre and Ontocetus emmonsi]". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 1859: 162.
  3. ^ B. Du Bus. 1867. Sur quelques mammiferes du crag d'Anvers. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts 24:562-577
  4. ^ P. J. Van Beneden. 1871. Les Phoques de la mer scaldisienne. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres det des Beaux-Arts de Belgique 32:5-18
  5. ^ Lankester E. R. (1865). "On the sources of the mammalian fossils of the Red Crag, and the discovery of a new mammal in that deposit, allied to the walrus". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London. 21 (1–2): 221–232. doi:10.1144/gsl.jgs.1865.021.01-02.28. S2CID 130245053.
  6. ^ a b Kellogg R (1925). "A fossil physeteroid cetacean from Santa Barbara County California". Proceedings of the United States National Museum. 66 (27): 1–8. doi:10.5479/si.00963801.66-2564.1.
  7. ^ E. L. Trouessart. 1898. Catalogus mammalium tam viventium quam fossilum 5:665-1264
  8. ^ G. Hasse. 1909. Les Morses Pliocène poederlien à Anvers. Bulletin de la Société Belge de Géologie de Paléontologie et d'Hydrologie (Bruxelles) 23:293-322
  9. ^ Rutten L (1907). "On fossil trichechids from Zeeland and Belgium". Proceedings of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. 10 (1): 2–14.
  10. ^ Berry, E. W.; Gregory, W. K. (1906). "Prorosmarus alleni, a new genus and species of walrus from the upper Miocene of Yorktown, Virginia". American Journal of Science. 21 (126): 444–450. Bibcode:1906AmJS...21..444B. doi:10.2475/ajs.s4-21.126.444.
  11. ^ Geraads D (1997). "Carnivores du Pliocene terminal de Ahl al Oughlam (Casablanca, Maroc)". Géobios. 30 (1): 127–164. Bibcode:1997Geobi..30..127G. doi:10.1016/s0016-6995(97)80263-x.
  12. ^ a b Kohno N., Ray C. E. (2008). "Pliocene walruses from the Yorktown Formation of Virginia and North Carolina, and a systematic revision of the North Atlantic Pliocene walruses". Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication. 14: 39–80.
  13. ^ Boisville, M; Chatar, N; Kohno, N. (2024). "New species of Ontocetus (Pinnipedia: Odobenidae) from the Lower Pleistocene of the North Atlantic shows similar feeding adaptation independent to the extant walrus (Odobenus rosmarus)". PeerJ. 12: e17666. doi:10.7717/peerj.17666. PMC 11328838.
  14. ^ Alexandra T. Boersma; Nicholas D. Pyenson (2015). "Albicetus oxymycterus, a New Generic Name and Redescription of a Basal Physeteroid (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Miocene of California, and the Evolution of Body Size in Sperm Whales". PLOS ONE. 10 (12): e0135551. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1035551B. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0135551. PMC 4674121. PMID 26651027.
  • Evolution: What the Fossils Say and Why It Matters by Donald R. Prothero and Carl Buell
  • Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology by Annalisa Berta, James L. Sumich, and Kit M. Kovacs
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