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Neotherium mirum

Mammalia - Carnivora - Odobenidae

Taxonomy
Neotherium mirum was named by Kellogg (1931). Its type specimen is USNM 11542-3, USNM 11548, USNM 11552, a limb element (calcaneum, astragalus, cuboid, navicular), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Sharktooth Hill, which is in a Langhian shoreface siltstone in the Temblor Formation of California.

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1931Neotherium mirum Kellogg p. 296
1994Neotherium mirum Deméré p. 113
1995Neotherium mirum Kohno et al. p. 297
2003Neotherium mirum Deméré et al. p. 49 figs. Fig. 3.3
2008Neotherium mirum Barnes p. 531
2013Neotherium mirum Boessenecker and Churchill p. 10 fig. 8
2015Neotherium mirum Boessenecker and Churchill figs. Fig. 2
2018Neotherium mirum Berta p. 714 figs. Fig. 3
2018Neotherium mirum Berta et al. p. 217 figs. Fig. 6
2018Neotherium mirum Magallanes et al. p. 30 figs. Figure 14
2018Neotherium mirum Velez-Juarbe p. 2
2022Neotherium mirum Tonomori p. 52

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
—Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
RankNameAuthor
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—Laurasiatheria
—Scrotifera
—Ferae()
—CarnivoramorphaWyss and Flynn 1993
—CarnivoraformesFlynn et al.
orderCarnivora
suborderCaniformiaKretzoi 1943
infraorderCanoidea(Simpson 1931)
superfamilyArctoideaFlower 1869
—PanpinnipediaWolsan et al. 2020
—Pinnipedimorpha
—Pinnipedia()
familyOdobenidae()
genusNeotherium
speciesmirum

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.

†Neotherium mirum Kellogg 1931
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
J. Velez-Juarbe 2018Small- to moderate-sized pinniped, with body length estimated between 1.84 and 2.21 m (estimates based on formulas from Churchill et al., 2015). Distinguished from other odobenids by displaying the following combination of characters of the skull: ascending process of premaxilla with short overlap with nasals (c. 3[1]), shared with Pseudotaria muramotoi Kohno, 2006, and later odobenids); flat palate (c. 9[0]), shared with Prototaria primigena Takeyama and Ozawa, 1984, Proneotherium repenningi Kohno et al., 1995, and Kamtschatarctos sinelnikovae Dubrovo, 1981; palatines that are long and posterolaterally expanded (c. 11[1]), as in K. sinelni- kovae, and more derived odobenids (except odobenines); supraorbital process of frontal absent (c. 16[1]), shared with Imagotaria downsi Mitchell, 1968, Pontolis magnus (True, 1905), ‘dusignathines,’ and odobenines; narrow, parallel-sided interorbital bar (c. 17[1]), as in K. sinelnikovae, Pseudotaria muramotoi, I. downsi, and Pontolis magnus; deep glenoid fossa (c. 26[0]), shared with Prototaria spp., Proneotherium repen- ningi, K. sinelnikovae, Ps. muramotoi, and Archaeodobenus akamatsui Tanaka and Kohno, 2015; and presence of pseudo- sylvian sulcus on lateral surface of braincase (c. 28[0]), shared with Prototaria spp. and P. repenningi; flattened, plate-like paroccipital processes (c. 34[3]), shared with Ps. muramotoi and all latter odobenids. Furthermore, amongst odobenids, the dental morphology of Neotherium mirum is characterized by lack of tusk-like canines (c. 55[0]), differing from ‘dusignathines’ and odobenines; possession of a bilobed lower
canine root (c. 59[1]), shared with Imagotaria downsi and Pelagiarctos spp.; laterally compressed postcanine crowns (c. 63[0]), shared with P. repenningi and K. sinelnikovae; p1 with labial cingulum; presence of a reduced metaconid (c. 70[1]), as in K. sinelnikovae, Pelagiarctos spp., and A. akamatsui; double- rooted p2–4 (c. 72[0], 73[0]), differing from Imagotaria downsi, ‘dusignathines,’ and odobenines; bilobed to single-rooted m2 (differing from the double-rooted condition in K. sinelnikovae); triple-rooted M1 (c. 77[0]), as in Prototaria spp., P. repenningi, and K. sinelnikovae; double-rooted m1 (c. 79[0]), thus differing from LACM 135920, ‘dusignathines,’ and Aivukus cedrosensis Repenning and Tedford, 1977; and m2 present (c. 81[0]), differ- ing from some Imagotaria downsi, ‘dusignathines,’ and odobe- nines. The postcranial skeleton of Neotherium mirum shows odobenid synapomorphies such as medial lip of distal trochlea of humerus with diameter greater than distal capitulum (c. 84[1]); distal end of radius expanded with large radial process (c. 85[2]); metacarpal I with a pit marking the insertion of extensor pollicis (c. 86[1]), shared with I. downsi, Po. magnus, Dusignathus santacruzensis Kellogg, 1927, Gomphotaria pug- nax Barnes and Raschke, 1991, and Pliopedia pacifica Kellogg, 1921; presence of a pit for the magnum on the scapholunar (c.87[1]); and calcaneum with medially prominent calcaneal tuber (c. 89[1]). Modified from Demere (1994b).