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Abstract
ABSTRACT—Kentriodon hoepfneri, sp. nov., is described from elements of the skull and a nearly complete vertebral column from middle/upper Miocene deposits of Groß Pampau, northern Germany. The new species is distinguished from previously described species of Kentriodon Kellogg, 1927, by anteromedially globular nasal bones and a narrowly elliptical posterior bullar facet of the periotic. In the size of its skull and teeth, overall morphology of the periotic, and the pentagonal shape of the nasal, the new species most closely resembles Kentriodon pernix and the probably congeneric Belgian specimen IRSNB M.372. The proportions of the vertebral centra indicate similarities with extant ziphiid and monodontid cetaceans, with greatest flexibility of the body in the lumbar region. Kentriodon hoepfneri, sp. nov., is the youngest known member of the kentriodontine subfamily to date. Among the subfamily Kentriodontinae, Kentriodon is the only genus with a Transatlantic distribution during the Miocene.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks are due to S. Füting, W. Eckloff (MNU), and G. Höpfner (Lübeck) for initiating and promoting our work. We express our gratitude to O. Lambert, A. Folie (IRSNB), C. de Muizon (Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris), C. Sarti (Museo Geologico Giovanni Capellini, Bologna), M. Gasparik (Hungarian Museum of Natural History, Budapest), L. Kordos (Geological Institute of Hungary, Budapest), S. Godfrey (Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons, Maryland), and D. J. Bohaska (USNM), for allowing us to study comparative material in their care. K. Gürs† (Landesamt für Natur und Umwelt des Landes Schleswig-Holstein, Flintbeck, Germany) provided us with details about the geological background. Illustrations of objects (, , , ) and diagrams () were produced by J.-P. Mendau and E. Siebert (Museum für Naturkunde Berlin). We are thankful to G. Maier (Calgary, Alberta) for additional comments on the manuscript. Financial support from the German Scientific Foundation (DFG) to the junior author and from the ‘Förderverein des Museums für Natur und Umwelt’ and the MNU to the senior author allowed the realization of the present study. Lastly, H. Ichishima and O. Lambert are thanked for their helpful reviews of the manuscript and E.M.G. Fitzgerald from the editorial board for valuable comments and suggestions.
Handling editor: Erich Fitzgerald.
