Mysticetes baring their teeth: A new fossil whale, Mammalodon hakataramea, from the Southwest Pacific

Abstract

Fordyce, R.E. and Marx, F.G. 2016. Mysticetes baring their teeth: a new fossil whale, Mammalodon hakataramea, from the Southwest Pacific. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 74: 107–116. A small, toothed fossil cetacean from Hakataramea Valley (South Canterbury, New Zealand) represents a new Late Oligocene species, Mammalodon hakataramea. The new material is from the Kokoamu Greensand (Duntroonian Stage, about 27 Ma, early to middle Chattian) of the Canterbury Basin, and thus about 2 Ma older than the only other species included in this genus, Mammalodon colliveri (Late Oligocene, Victoria, Australia). The anterior pedicle of the tympanic bulla is not fused to the periotic and resembles that of Delphinidae in basic structure. The teeth show extreme attritional and/or abrasive wear, which has obliterated the crowns. Like Mammalodon colliveri, M. hakataramea was probably raptorial or a benthic suction feeder.