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Taxonomy
Ninoziphius was named by Muizon (1983) [Sepkoski's age data: T Plio]. It is not extant. It was considered monophyletic by Lambert (2005) and Uhen et al. (2008).
It was assigned to Hyperoodontidae by McKenna and Bell (1997); to Ziphiinae by Muizon (1990) and Fordyce and de Muizon (2001); to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Ziphiidae by Muizon (1983), Muizon (1984), Lambert (2005), Whitmore and Kaltenbach (2008), Uhen et al. (2008), Geisler et al. (2011), Lambert et al. (2013), Marx et al. (2016) and Berta (2017); and to Messapicetiformes by Bianucci et al. (2024).
It was assigned to Hyperoodontidae by McKenna and Bell (1997); to Ziphiinae by Muizon (1990) and Fordyce and de Muizon (2001); to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Ziphiidae by Muizon (1983), Muizon (1984), Lambert (2005), Whitmore and Kaltenbach (2008), Uhen et al. (2008), Geisler et al. (2011), Lambert et al. (2013), Marx et al. (2016) and Berta (2017); and to Messapicetiformes by Bianucci et al. (2024).
Species
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1983 | Ninoziphius Muizon |
| 1984 | Ninoziphius Muizon p. 136 |
| 1990 | Ninoziphius Muizon p. 295 figs. Fig. 5 |
| 1997 | Ninoziphius McKenna and Bell p. 382 |
| 2001 | Ninoziphius Fordyce and de Muizon p. 179 |
| 2002 | Ninoziphius Sepkoski |
| 2005 | Ninoziphius Lambert p. 446 |
| 2008 | Ninoziphius Uhen et al. p. 579 |
| 2008 | Ninoziphius Whitmore and Kaltenbach p. 212 |
| 2011 | Ninoziphius Geisler et al. p. 5 figs. Table 1 |
| 2013 | Ninoziphius Lambert et al. p. 588 figs. Figure 14 |
| 2016 | Ninoziphius Marx et al. p. 130 |
| 2017 | Ninoziphius Berta p. 162 |
| 2024 | Ninoziphius Bianucci et al. p. 32 |
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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.
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| M. D. Uhen et al. 2008 | Ziphiidae close to the size of Mesoplodon, having many conical teeth inserted in an alveolar gutter (at least 40 teeth per maxilla and approximately 45 per dentary). The cranium has a long and flat rostrum without pachyostosis and the mesorostral gutter is open dorsally. On the ventral face the fossae for the pterygoid sinuses are developed more than in living Ziphiidae and present vertical bony pillars. The periotic is spindly and edges of the internal acoustic meatus and of the cochlear and vestibular aqueducts emit an osseous spine medially. The mandible has a long symphysis equipped with three pairs of large apical and subapical teeth. The atlas and the axis are fused, while the other cervical vertebrae are free (Muizon, 1983b). | |
| O. Lambert et al. 2013 | Ninoziphius platyrostris is a member of the family Ziphiidae because of the follow- ing apomorphies (see phylogeny below): elevated vertex bearing outwardly projecting crest of premax- illa; enlarged fossa for hamular lobe of pterygoid sinus, extended anteriorly on palatal surface of rostrum and ventrally close to ventral limit of basic- ranium; ventral margin of postglenoid process of squamosal clearly more dorsal than ventral margin of paroccipital process of exoccipital in lateral view (also present for example in some delphinoids); absence of a dorsal keel on posterior process of periotic; enlarged posterior process of tympanic attached to elements of squamosal/exoccipital (character possibly absent in Messapicetus and Nazcacetus, even though we acknowledge that its detection on fossil skulls is not easy, and also present in physeteroids); presence of a posteroventral corner on sigmoid process of tympanic; enlarged pair of mandibular alveoli (probably corre- sponding to tusks); presence of a precoronoid crest on dorsal margin of mandible (also present in the ziphiid-like dolphin Australodelphis and some other delphinoids).
Compared to other known ziphiids, N. platyrostris retains a series of plesiomorphies (see phylogeny below): unexcavated apex of hamular process of ptery- goid; higher and thinner lateral lamina of pterygoid; posterior margin of sigmoid process of tympanic rectilinear and transversely directed; transversely narrow anterior process of periotic in ventral view, laterally short lateral tuberosity of periotic, and pos- terior process of periotic narrow, not fan-shaped (three last characters shared with Messapicetus); retention of a full series of functional upper and lower postapical teeth (shared with Messapicetus and Tasmacetus); proportionally longer cervical region (ratio of centrum length/posterior centrum width for each of the vertebrae c3-c6 > 0.35; unknown in most extinct ziphiids; number of fused cervicals varies amongst ziphiids). Ninoziphius differs from all other ziphiids in: exten- sion of pterygoid sinus in orbit region; possibly devel- opment of two pairs of subapical mandibular tusks set on a bony pad, in addition to apical tusks. Ninoziphius shares with members of the Messapi- cetus clade and with ziphiines the anterolateral direction of premaxillary crest, with members of the Messapicetus clade and some of the ziphiines (Choneziphis, Izikoziphius, and Ziphius) the reduced contact between nasal and premaxillary crest. It differs from members of the Messapicetus clade and some of the ziphiines (Choneziphis, Globicetus, Imoce- tus, and Tusciziphius) by the absence of a dorsoven- tral closure of mesorostral groove by thickened premaxillae, and from members of the Messapicetus clade, Imocetus, and Ziphius by the absence of a distinct prenarial basin. It also shares with Messapi- cetus the extreme elongation of the rostrum, making up more than 70% of condylobasal length and the elongated symphyseal portion of mandibles. It further differs from Messapicetus in having a greater vertex elevation, but without vertical posterodorsal portion of the ascending process of the premaxillae, nasal more anteroposteriorly elongated and without antero- medial excavation, and tympanic bulla without ante- rior spine. It shares with Berardius the presence of a tall cochlear spine in periotic (taller than in eurhino- delphinids), with Berardius and Messapicetus the semicircle-shaped section of symphyseal portion of mandibles. It differs from Berardius and related fossil genera in: supraoccipital reaching a level as high as the frontal and nasal in vertex; absence of a rounded protuberance on posterior part of vertex. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: f = family, subo = suborder, o = order | |||||
| References: Uhen 2004, Nowak 1991 | |||||
Age range: base of the Langhian to the top of the Late/Upper Hemphillian or 15.97000 to 4.90000 Ma
Collections (8 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aquitanian - Langhian | USA (North Carolina) | N. platyrostris (48887) | |
| Langhian | USA (Virginia) | N. platyrostris (79793) | |
| Tortonian - Zanclean | USA (Florida) | N. platyrostris (18548) | |
| Late/Upper Hemphillian | USA (Florida) | N. platyrostris (18532 60036) | |
| Messinian | Peru | N. platyrostris (13079) | |
| Zanclean | USA (North Carolina) | N. platyrostris, Ziphiidae indet. (52582) | |
| Zanclean | USA (Florida) | N. platyrostris (154720) |