PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Araeodelphis

Mammalia - Cetacea - Platanistidae

Taxonomy

Araeodelphis was named by Kellogg (1957) [Sepkoski's age data: T Mi-m Sepkoski's reference number: 746]. It is not extant. It was considered monophyletic by Godfrey et al. (2006), Uhen et al. (2008).

It was considered a nomen dubium by Uhen and Pyenson (2007).

It was assigned to Delphinoidea by Kellogg (1957); to Platanistoidea by Muizon (1987); to Delphinidae by Carroll (1988); to Autoceta by McKenna and Bell (1997); to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Odontoceti by Gottfried et al. (1994), Uhen et al. (2008); and to Platanistidae by Godfrey et al. (2006), Whitmore and Kaltenbach (2008), Lambert et al. (2014), Godfrey et al. (2017), Bianucci et al. (2020), Godfrey and Lambert (2023).

Species

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
M. D. Uhen et al. 2008	Rostrum slender, attenuated toward anterior extremity; mesorostral trough roofed over by close approximation of premaxillaries; narrow median longitudinal groove on palatal surface extends forward from 45th tooth (counting backward from anterior-most alveolus) to extremity; more than 45 teeth located on each side of rostrum; mandibles slender with symphysis firmly ankylosed, elongated and tapered toward anterior extremity; width of symphysis greater than depth; median longitudinal groove on dorsal surface of symphysis indistinctly divided longitudinally for about two-thirds its length by the raised thin ridge formed at line of contact of mandibles; opposite free posterior portions of mandibles come together at a blunt angle (55˚) at symphysis; external surface of each mandible convex dorsally above the deep channel or groove which commences about 20 mm. behind level of posterior end of symphysis and extends forward almost to anterior end; these channels or grooves on the opposite rami bound the median and somewhat convex longitudinal strip on ventral surface of symphysis; 36 to 37 teeth located on each side of symphysis; roots of teeth implanted in the alveoli which slope more inward than backward; roots of teeth noticeably swollen below base of crown and attenuated near extremity; crowns of most of the teeth on symphysis and rostrum slender, pointed, and curved inward; enamel on crowns of majority of the teeth indistinctly wrinkled in a vertical direction on internal surface, but posterior teeth on symphysis have enamel more coarsely sculptured internally and possess a small tubercle on posterior margin of internal face; posterior teeth (41st to 45th) on rostrum possess one small tubercle on the posterior surface about half way of height of crown and varying number of minute rugosities on internal surface; interval between teeth at base of crowns varies from 3 to 6 mm (Kellogg, 1957).
S. J. Godfrey et al. 2017	(Modified from Kellogg, 1957) Platanistidae with condylobasal length approximately 50 cm (Table 1); slender rostrum twice the length of the facial region of the skull; rostrum wider (almost two times wider) than deep throughout its entire length; mesorostral canal closed dorsally through anterior half of rostrum by apposition of contralateral premaxillae. Neurocranium with conspicuously elevated orbits directed anterolaterally; supraorbital process of frontal and overlapping maxilla very modestly thickened laterally and significantly elevated above the midline of the skull at that point in its length; non-pneumatized supraorbital eminences, although most of the orbital surface of the frontal bone appears to have been lined with a diverticulum of the pterygoid air-sac sinus; postorbital process of frontal short, the posterior surface of which is concave and appears to have received the anterodorsal convex surface of the zygomatic process of squamosal; dorsal surface of vertex markedly transversely and longitudinally convex; zygomatic process of squamosal much compressed transversely (thins conspicuously ventrally, but dorsally the zygomatic is thickened transversely); no apparent postglenoid process; glenoid facet faces medially, much enlarged posteroventral corner, separated from squamosal by a distinct constriction (i.e., very small pedicle for zygomatic process of squamosal); vestigial hemispherical olfactory bulb chambers—each ca. 2 mm £ 7 mm long. Mandibles slender with elongated symphysis firmly ankylosed; width of symphysis greater than depth; right and left postsymphyseal regions draw a blunt angle of 55 ; deep lateral groove on mandible. Approximately 50 teeth located in each quadrant. Crowns of most of the teeth on mandibular symphysis and rostrum slender, pointed, and curved inward; enamel on crowns of majority of the teeth indistinctly wrinkled, but posterior lower teeth have enamel more coarsely sculptured lingually and possess a small tubercle on distal margin of lingual face; posterior teeth on maxilla possess one small tubercle on the distal surface and a varying number of minute rugosities on lingual surface.

Measurements

No measurements are available