Kentriodontidae, Slijper, 1936

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 : 12

? Kentriodontidae indet. 3

Figure 5F

Material and localities. Two relatively large and short caudal vertebrae; Stăuceni, Saur-Mohyla.

Description and comparison. Both specimens are characterised by a derived shape of centra, which are as short as high ( Figure 5F ), and, therefore, are similar to modern delphinids ( Buchholtz, 2001). They resemble those of Sophianaecetus commenticius ( Kazár, 2005) or “ Heterodelphis” leiodontus ( Papp, 1905) , both from the Sarmatian s.s. of the Central Paratethys. Another similar vertebra from Mitoc-Prut was reported by Macarovici and Zaharia (1967).

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.