Mammalodon
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| Mammalodon Fossil range: Late Oligocene |
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| Mammalodon colliveri Pritchard, 1939 |
Mammalodon is an extinct genus of whale that was discovered in 1932. It is an early baleen whale which still had teeth, as opposed to baleen plates.[1]
Modern whales have numerous plates with frayed edges called whalebones (or baleen). The whale ingests a mouthful of water then filters prey (such as krill) through the baleen.
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[edit] Description
Mammalodon, with a length of 2.5m, was smaller and more basal than modern baleen whales.[citation needed] It had a short face, a delicate Premaxilla with only one or two incisors and the lateral rim of the internal auditory meatus was lengthened towards the brain case which formed a longitudinal ridge. Unlike modern whales, Mammalodon was endowed with well developed teeth.
[edit] Palaeobiology
As with the genus Janjucetus, Mammalodon possessed only teeth, and lacked the baleen[1] that would have enabled it to filter-feed in the same manner as extant baleen whales, as such the diet and ecological niche of Mammalodon still remains unresolved.[1] As the teeth are widely spaced, it has been suggested that they may have developed a method of filter-feeding unlike that of other whales.[2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Fitzgerald EMG. 2006. A bizarre new toothed mysticete (Cetacea) from Australia and the early evolution of baleen whales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 273: 2955-2963.
- ^ Evolution of Aquatic Tetrapods
