Imerodelphis thabagarii Mchedlidze, 1964

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 : 11

(cf. Imerodelphis thabagarii Mchedlidze, 1964 )

Figure 5C

Material and locality. Three small and long lumbar vertebrae; Saur-Mohyla.

Comparison. A kentriodontid of this morphotype and size is Imerodelphis thabagarii from the Volhynian of Georgia ( Mchedlidze, 1964). A vertebra identified earlier by Macarovici and Zaharia (1967) as Phocaena euxinica has similar size and proportions and, therefore, may represent this or a closely related taxon. However, the type material of Phocaena euxinica does not include vertebrae ( Nordmann, 1860) and requires further revision.

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.