Kentriodon fuchsii ( Brandt, 1873 )

Gol’din, Pavel, Haiduc, Bogdan Stelian, Kovalchuk, Oleksandr, Górka, Marcin, Otryazhyi, Pavlo, Brânzilă, Mihai, Păun, Elena Ionela, Barkaszi, Zoltán, Ţibuleac, Paul & Răţoi, Bogdan Gabriel, 2020, The Volhynian (late Middle Miocene) marine fishes and mammals as proxies for the onset of the Eastern Paratethys re-colonisation by vertebrate fauna, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 43) 23 (3), pp. 1-20 : 9-11

Kentriodon fuchsii ( Brandt, 1873)

Figures 5B , 6

Material and locality. Partially preserved periotic bone, lumbar vertebra; Stăuceni, Basarabi, Stâncești.

Remarks and comparison. The periotic bone from Stăuceni ( Figure 6 ) shares diagnostic features of Kentriodon fuchsii defined by Kazár (2006): medial bending of the anterior process and lateral bending of the posterior process; short posterior process with pentagonal posterior bullar facet; pars cochlearis (as preserved) broadly joined to the body of the periotic; a large ventrolateral tuberosity; a large eminence dorsal to fenestra rotunda. Also, a few more fragments can be tentatively referred to this taxon. They include elongated vertebrae, which were reported from Ghireni and Cordăreni by Macarovici and Zaharia (1967), Ionesi and Galan (1988), and newly found lumbar and caudal vertebrae, matching the original description of Kentriodon fuchsii ( Brandt, 1873) . The ulna reported by Codrea et al. (2014) from Basarabi also corresponds to the original description of Kentriodon fuchsii ( Brandt, 1873) . There are a few issues preventing clear attribution of vertebrae: size variation across the vertebrae; all the specimens are disarticulated and none of them is associated with the periotic bone; Kentriodon fuchsii itself needs redescription and at the end can be split into a few taxa ( Kazár, 2006). Another dwarf kentriodontid of this morphotype but smaller than K. fuchsii is Imerodelphis thabagarii .

Figures

FIGURE 5. Marine mammals from the Volhynian beds of the Moldavian Platform: A – Phocinae indet. 2, scapula and caudal vertebra, Stăuceni; B – Kentriodon fuchsii, a lumbar vertebra, dorsal and posterior view, Basarabi; C – Kentriodontidae indet. 1 (cf. Imerodelphis thabagarii), lumbar vertebra, dorsal and anterior view, Saur-Mohyla; D – Kentriodontidae indet. 2, caudal vertebra, anterior and lateral view, Stăuceni; E – Kentriodontidae indet. 2, thoracic vertebra, anterior view, Stâncești; F – Kentriodontidae indet. 3, caudal vertebra, anterior and lateral view, Stăuceni; G – Pachyacanthus sp., thoracic vertebra, anterior and lateral view, Vilkhovets; H – Cetotheriidae indet., caudal vertebra, dorsal and lateral view, Stăuceni; I-J –? Mysticeti indet. (“Archaeocetus fockii”), rib fragment, lateral view and cross-section (I), caudal vertebra (J), dorsal and lateral view, Drăgușeni. Scale bars equal 2 cm in A–I and 5 cm in J.

FIGURE 6. The periotic bone of Kentriodon fuchsii from the Volhynian of Stăuceni (Romania) in ventral (A), lateral (B), and posterior view (C). Abbreviations: abf, anterior bullar facet; ap, anterior process; fc, ventral foramen of the facial canal; fo, fenestra ovalis; fr, fenestra rounda; pbf, posterior bullar facet; pc, pars cochlearis; pb, periotic body; pp, posterior process; vt, ventrolateral tuberosity. Scale bars equal 2 cm.