Abstract

SALINAS-MARQUEZ, Fernando M.; BARNES, Lawrence G.; FLORES-TRUJILLO, Juan G.  and  ARANDA-MANTECA, Francisco J.. A fossil dolphin species (Cetacea; Delphinoidea; Kentriodontoidae) of the middle Miocene in Baja California. Bol. Soc. Geol. Mex [online]. 2014, vol.66, n.1, pp.145-164. ISSN 1405-3322.

Fossil odontocete cetaceans of the genus Kentriodon are small delphinoid of the extinct family Kentriodontidae. This genus has been previously reported from the Middle Miocene Rosarito Beach Formation in the area of La Misión in Baja California, México; however, the systematics of the specimens have not been described previously. The species from this deposit is here named Kentriodon diusinus, new species, and is based on cranial and postcranial material. This species belongs in the subfamily Kentriodontinae, and it is the first described species of Kentriodontidae from México. A computer-assisted phylogenetic analysis using the software PAUP* (Phylogeneic Analysis Using Parsimony and other methods) shows that K. diusinus is most closely related to Kentriodon obscurus, which is known only from the Sharktooth Hill Local Fauna, derived from the Round Mountain Silt, in Kern County, central California, USA than any of the other species assigned to the genus Kentriodon.

Keywords : Kentriodontidae; new species; Middle Miocene; Baja California; taxonomy.