Pontogeneus
|
Pontogeneus Temporal range: Late Eocene |
|
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | †Basilosauridae |
| Genus: |
†Pontogeneus Leidy, 1852 |
| Species: | †P. priscus |
| Binomial name | |
|
Pontogeneus priscus Leidy, 1852 |
|
Pontogeneus (nomen dubium) is a genus of extinct cetacean known from fossils recovered from Late Eocene sediments (Bartonian-Priabonian stages) of the southeastern United States.
When "Zeuglodon" brachyspondylus was formerly included, Pontogeneus was depicted as having a skeleton similar to that of Basilosaurus cetoides, although the posterior thoracic vertebrae, the lumbar vertebrae, and the anterior caudal vertebrae had proportions closer to those seen in members of the archaeocete Subfamily Dorudontinae.
In 1852, Joseph Leidy had erected Pontogeneus priscus based on the centrum of a single cervical vertebra in the collections of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. Leidy noted that the centrum had been collected from exposures along the Washita River in Louisiana. Kellogg 1936 synonymized these two taxa to form Pontogeneus brachyspondylus which he listed as incertae cedis.
Uhen 2005 designated Pontogeneus priscus and Zeuglodon brachyspondylus to be nomina dubia based on the lack of diagnostic characters that distinguish the type specimens from other basilosaurids. While Pontogeneus priscus is no longer considered valid, "Z." brachyspondylus appears similar to Masracetus from Egypt (which was also referred to Z. brachyspondylus in the past) and may represent either a species of Masracetus or a distinct and closely related but as-yet-unnamed genus.
"Zeuglodon brachyspondylus" (Müller 1849) was erected for several vertebrae collected in either Choctaw or Washington counties in southern Alabama.
...
Wikipedia