First discovery of the Miocene northern Atlantic sperm whale Orycterocetus in the Mediterranean |
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Authors: | Giovanni Bianucci Walter Landini |
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Institution: | a Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, via S. Maria 53, 56126 Pisa, Italy b Museo dell'Ambiente, Università di Lecce, via per Arnesano, 73100, Lecce, Italy |
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Abstract: | An incomplete mandible of a fossil sperm whale (Odontoceti; Physeteridae) is described. It is a portion of elongated and narrow symphysis with cylindrical and slightly curved teeth without enamel. The specimen, collected from the Miocene “Pietra leccese” sediments of South Italy, appears to represent a species of Orycterocetus, and is the first such record from the Mediterranean. Considering the wide diffusion of Orycterocetus in the North Atlantic, we believe its rare presence in the Mediterranean as occasional and due to a certain degree of interchange between the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic cetacean fauna during the Miocene. |
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Keywords: | Cetacea Physeteridae Systematic Paleogeography Miocene Mediterranean |
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