Pontophoca is an extinct genus of earless seals from the middle-late Miocene of the eastern Paratethys basin and the North Sea.
Pontophoca Temporal range:
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Clade: | Pinnipedia |
Family: | Phocidae |
Genus: | †Pontophoca Kretzoi, 1941 |
Species | |
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Fossils
editThere are two recognized species of Pontophoca, P. sarmatica and P. jutlandica. P. sarmatica is known from middle Miocene marine deposits in the eastern Paratethys basin, while fossils of P. jutlandica have been found in the Tortonian-age Gram Formation in Denmark.[1][2]
References
edit- ^ I. Koretsky. 2001. Morphology and systematics of Miocene Phocinae (Mammalia: Carnivora) from Paratethys and the North Atlantic region. Geologica Hungarica Series Palaeontologica 54:1-109
- ^ I. Koretsky, S. Rahmat, and N. Peters. 2014. Rare late Miocene seal taxa (Carnivora, Phocidae) from the North Sea Basin. Vestnik zoologii 48(5):419-432