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Rododelphis stamatiadisi
Taxonomy
Rododelphis stamatiadisi was named by Bianucci et al. (2022). Its type specimen is MMPS 544, a partial skeleton ( incomplete cranium lacking the anterior portion of the rostrum and the basicranium but including right and left ear bones (i.e., periotic, tympanic bulla, mall), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Pefka, near, which is in a Calabrian marine horizon in the Lindos Formation of Greece. It is the type species of Rododelphis.
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Rododelphis stamatiadisi Bianucci et al. p. 1 figs. Fig. 1-2 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
†Rododelphis stamatiadisi Bianucci et al. 2022
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| G. Bianucci et al. 2022 | Rododelphis belongs to Delphinidae, as indicated by the right premaxilla being significantly wider than the left at the level of the external nares and the cribriform plate extending dorsally and overlapping the anterior surface of the nasals. It differs from all Delphinidae, except Globicephala and Pseudorca, by the large skull (estimated bizygomatic width [BZW]: 422 mm; Data S1C) combined with transverse widening of the right premaxilla at the base of the rostrum (56% of half the rostral width) and the relatively few mandibular teeth (i.e., 11). It shares with Pseudorca large teeth (greatest tooth diameter >15 mm), a lateral furrow in the tympanic bulla, a straight distal end of the sigmoid process, and a posterior thoracic centrum length/height ratio between 113% and 139% (Figure 1). It differs from Globicephala and Pseudorca by the deep, dorsomedial depression involving the premaxillae on the rostrum base, the lateral margin of the right premaxilla being straight until its posterior end, the palatine being more anteriorly extended onto the rostrum (Figure S2C), and the unfused C3–C7 cervicals. It further differs from Pseudorca by having the frontals higher than the nasals at the vertex, a larger mandibular symphy- seal angle (41), smaller mandibular alveoli (Figure S2E), weaker occlusal wear facets on teeth (Figure 1), and the manubrium of malleus shorter than the processus muscularis. It further differs from Globicephala by the absence of dorsally expanded lacrimals, the convex and triangular occiput in dorsal view, the larger number and diameters of mandibular teeth, the rounded posterior end of the ventromedial keel of the tympanic bulla, and the lack oftransverse compression of the tympanic bulla (see Figure S2 for further comparisons with globicephalines). |