Boletín de la Sociedad Geológica Mexicana Volumen 66, núm. 1, 2014, p. 145-164 http://dx.doi.org/10.18268/BSGM2014v66n1a11

Una especie de delfín fósil (Cetacea; Delphinoidea; Kentriodontoidae) del Mioceno Medio de Baja California

Fernando M. Salinas-Márquez¹, Lawrence G. Barnes², Juan G. Flores-Trujillo³, Francisco J. Aranda-Manteca^1,*

¹ Laboratorio de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, Baja California, México, 22800.
² Department of Vertebrate Paleotology, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. 90007.
³ Departamento de Geología, Centro de Investigación Científica y Educación Superior de Ensenada C I C E S E, Carretera Ensenada-Tijuana, Zona Playitas No. 3918, Baja California, México, 22860.

^* This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Fossil odontocete cetaceans of the genus Kentriodon are small delphinoid of the extinct family Kentriodontidae. This genus has been previously reported from the Middle Miocene Rosarito Beach Formation in the area of La Misión in Baja California, México; however, the systematics of the specimens have not been described previously. The species from this deposit is here named Kentriodon diusinus, new species, and is based on cranial and postcranial material. This species belongs in the subfamily Kentriodontinae, and it is the first described species of Kentriodontidae from México. A computer-assisted phylogenetic analysis using the software PAUP* (Phylogeneic Analysis Using Parsimony and other methods) shows that K. diusinus is most closely related to Kentriodon obscurus, which is known only from the Sharktooth Hill Local Fauna, derived from the Round Mountain Silt, in Kern County, central California, USA than any of the other species assigned to the genus Kentriodon.

Keywords: Kentriodontidae, new species, Middle Miocene, Baja California, taxonomy.