Parapontoporia is an extinct genus of dolphin that lived off the Pacific coast of North America from the Late Miocene until the genus' extinction during the Pliocene.[1][2] It is related to the baiji.[3] Fossils have been found in California (Tulare Formation) and Mexico (Almejas Formation). The Tulare Formation is predominately freshwater, which suggests Parapontoporia may have been tolerant of both salt and fresh water.[3]

Parapontoporia
Temporal range: Late Miocene–Pliocene
Reconstruction of Parapontoporia pacifica (top) with the fossil porpoise Piscolithax tedfordi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Lipotidae
Genus: Parapontoporia
Barnes, 1984
Type species
Parapontoporia pacifica
Species
  • P. pacifica Barnes, 1984
  • P. sternbergi Gregory and Kellogg, 1927
  • P. wilsoni Barnes, 1985
Skull (left), along with the skull of Semirostrum.

References

edit
  1. ^ Barnes, L.G. (July 1984). "Fossil odontocetes (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Almejas Formation, Isla Cedros, Mexico". PaleoBios. 42: 1–46.
  2. ^ The Paleobiology Database
  3. ^ a b Boessenecker, Robert W.; Poust, Ashley W. (2015). "Freshwater occurrence of the extinct dolphin Parapontoporia (Cetacea: Lipotidae) from the upper Pliocene nonmarine Tulare Formation of California". Palaeontology. 58 (3): 489–496. Bibcode:2015Palgy..58..489B. doi:10.1111/pala.12153. S2CID 128980362.