Name:
Ankylorhiza
(fused roots).
Phonetic: An-ky-lo-ry-sah.
Named By: Robert W. Boessenecker, Morgan
Churchill, Emily A. Buchholtz, Brian L. Beatty &
Jonathan H. Geisler - 2020.
Synonyms: Squalodon tiedemani.
Classification: Chordata, Mamamlia,
Artiodactyla, Cetacea, Odontoceti.
Species: A. tiedemani
(type).
Diet: Piscivore/carnivore.
Size: Estimated to be about 4.8 meters long.
Known locations: USA, South Carolina - Ashley
Formation.
Time period: Oligocene.
Fossil representation: Partial remains of several
individuals.
Ankylorhiza
is a genus of dolphin
known to have lived in waters around eastern
North America during the Oligocene. Ankylorhiza
was one of the larger
toothed whales for its time and would have likely been a predator of
everything from fish to other large marine creatures, possibly even
whales. The incisor teeth of Ankylorhiza point
forwards leading to
speculation that Ankylorhiza may have rammed prey
animals so that the
teeth would cut into the body of their prey causing grievous injuries.
Further reading
- Convergent Evolution of Swimming Adaptations in Modern Whales
Revealed by a Large Macrophagous Dolphin from the Oligocene of South
Carolina. - Current Biology. - Robert W. Boessenecker,
Morgan Churchill, Emily A. Buchholtz, Brian L. Beatty
& Jonathan H. Geisler - 2020.
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