Name: Otekaikea.
Phonetic: O-tek-ay-ke-ah.
Named By: Y. Tanaka & R. E. Fordyce
- 2014.
Synonyms: Prosqualodon marplesi.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Cetacea,
Odontoceti.
Species: O. marplesi (type),
O.
huata.
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: New Zealand.
Time period: Chattian of the Oligocene.
Fossil representation: Partial skulls.
With the type species originally described as a species of Prosqualodon, Otekaikea became a recognised genus of toothed whale in 2015. Otekaikea is considered to be very similar to the genus Waipatia.
Further reading
- Fossil dolphin Otekaikea marplesi (Latest
Oligocene, New
Zealand) expands the morphological and taxonomic diversity of
Oligocene cetaceans. - PLoS One 9(9):e107972. - Y.
Tanaka & R. E. Fordyce - 2014.
- A new Oligo-Miocene dolphin from New Zealand: Otekaikea huata expands
diversity of the early Platanistoidea. Palaeontologia Electronica
18.2.23A: - Yoshihiro Tanaka & R. Ewan Fordyce - 2015.
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