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Whakakai waipata

Osteichthyes - Cetacea

Taxonomy
Whakakai waipata was named by Tsai and Fordyce (2016). Its type specimen is OU 21927, a partial skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is The Earthquakes (Kokoamu Greensand), which is in a Duntroonian marine siltstone in the Kokoamu Greensand Formation of New Zealand.

Synonymy list
YearName and author
2016Whakakai waipata Tsai and Fordyce
2024Whakakai waipata Robinson et al. p. 578

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
classOsteichthyes
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
subclassSynapsida
Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
Mammaliamorpha
RankNameAuthor
Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
Cladotheria
Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
Eutheria()
Placentalia
Boreoeutheria
Laurasiatheria
Scrotifera
Euungulata
Artiodactylamorpha
Artiodactyla()
Whippomorpha
orderCetacea
Pelagiceti
Neoceti
suborderMysticeti
genusWhakakai
specieswaipata

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.

Whakakai waipata Tsai and Fordyce 2016
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
C. H. Tsai and R. E. Fordyce 2016The tympanic bulla and periotic of †Whakakai waipata OU 21927 differ from the contemporaneous Oligocene toothed mysticetes (†Aetiocetidae and †Mammalodontidae), baleen-bearing mysticetes (†Eomysticetidae and †Horopeta umarere) in the combination of: relatively massive size of tympanic bulla and periotic; well developed (dorsally elevated) superior process of the periotic; wide and posteriorly extended flattened caudal tympanic process; and dorsoventrally deep posterior process of the periotic (more than half the dorsoventral height of the body of the periotic). †Whakakai waipata OU 21927 differs from all the crown baleen-bearing mysticetes (Cetotheriidae/Neobalaenidae, Cetotheriidae sensu lato, Balaenopteridae, Balaenidae, Eschrichtiidae) in showing the following plesiomorphic features: unfused posterior processes of the periotic and tympanic bulla; the presence of a fovea epitubaria, which lacks the usually fused accessory ossicle on the ventral margin of the anterior process; well developed superior process; presence of the sigmoidal cavity in the bulla; presence of an elliptical foramen; and marked sigmoid cleft (sensu horizontal cleft in Tsai & Fordyce 2015b).

†Whakakai waipata OU 21927 differs from described Mysticeti in this autapomorphic combination of features: relatively massive size of the periotic; wide and posteriorly extended flattened caudal tympanic process; dorsoventrally deep posterior process of the periotic (more than half the dorsoventral height of the body of the periotic); well devel- oped posteroexternal sulcus with posteroexternal foramen; and an anteroexternal foramen at the base of anteroexternal sulcus.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: hydroxyapatitesubo
Form: roller-shapedo
Ontogeny: modification of partso
Environment: marinesubo
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: aquaticsubo
Depth habitat: surfaceo
Diet: carnivoresubo
Diet 2: suspension feedersubo
Reproduction: viviparouso
Created: 2005-03-06 14:20:41
Modified: 2005-03-06 16:34:40
Source: subo = suborder, o = order
Reference: Uhen 2004

Age range: Duntroonian or 27.30000 to 25.20000 Ma

Collections: one only


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Duntroonian27.3 - 25.2New Zealand (South Island) Whakakai waipata (type locality: 173284)