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Taxonomy
Toipahautea waitaki was named by Tsai and Fordyce (2018). Its type specimen is OU 21981, a partial skeleton (disarticulated partial skull (parts of the maxillae and premaxillae, left nasal, frontals, squamosals, exoccipitals, basioccipital and supraoccipital), incomple), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Haughs Quarry, Hakataramea valley (I40/f173), which is in a Whaingaroan marine sandstone in the Kokoamu Greensand Formation of New Zealand.
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Toipahautea waitaki Tsai and Fordyce p. 3 figs. Figs. 2-10 |
| 2024 | Toipahautea waitaki Robinson et al. p. 578 |
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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.
†Toipahautea waitaki Tsai and Fordyce 2018
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| C.-H. Tsai and R. E. Fordyce 2018 | Toipahautea waitaki is interpreted as a chaeomysticete based on the presence of ‘baleen’ sulci on the ventral surface of the maxilla and lack of mandibular alveoli. †Toipahautea waitaki has a unique combination of: massive size of periotic; well-developed superior process of the periotic; prominent elongation of dorsomedial margin of the internal acoustic meatus; prominent fissure between the fenestra rotunda and the aperture for the cochlear aqueduct; small medial posterior sulcus; the presence of the anteroexternal foramen; the presence of the sigmoidal cavity; the presence of the elliptical foramen; horizontal sigmoidal cleft far anterior than the anterior margin of the sigmoidal process; posteromedial margin of the bulla orienting slightly anteromedially.
†Toipahautea waitaki differs from Oligocene-toothed mysticetes (unranked †Coronodon havensteini, †Aetiocetidae and near-coeval/near-sympatric †Mammalodontidae) in greater condylobasal length; maxillae dorsoventrally thin and inferred to be long and laterally shelving; lack of functional teeth; rectangular supraorbital process of the frontal with mediolateral width greater than anteroposterior length; postorbital process of the frontal less developed; paroccipital process of the exoccipital extends posteriorly beyond the level of the occipital condyles; laterally deflected coronoid process; larger periotic and bulla; well-developed superior process; dorsal elongation of posterodorsal margin of the internal acoustic meatus; the presence of the anteroexternal foramen. †Toipahautea waitaki differs from near-coeval/near-sympatric baleen-bearing †Eomysticetidae in lack of secondary squamosal fossa; robust supraorbital process with prominent pre- and postorbital processes; paroccipital process of the exoccipital extends posteriorly beyond the level of the occipital condyles; larger and more inflated periotic; well-developed superior process; dorsal elongation of posterodorsal margin of the internal acoustic meatus; tabular posterior process of the periotic slightly oriented ventrally; rounded-oblique posterior face on tympanic bulla, rather than a bilobed profile with interprominential notch; triangular and laterally deflected coronoid process. †Toipahautea waitaki differs from Oligocene †Sitsqwayk in a rectangular and transversely elongated supraorbital process of frontal; the profile of tympanic bulla more rounded instead of dorsoventrally compressed in medial view; the absence of distinct interprominential notch. †Toipahautea waitaki differs from near-coeval/near-sympatric †Horopeta umarere in laterally deflected coronoid process of the mandible; larger pars cochlearis; dorsal elongation of posterodorsal margin of the internal acoustic meatus; better-defined mallear fossa; more deeply excavated median promontorial groove. †Toipahautea waitaki differs from near-coeval/near-sympatric †Whakakai waipata in triangular anterior process of the periotic in medial view; small medial posterior sulcus; cylindrical and dorsoventrally narrow posterior process of the periotic. † Toipahautea waitaki OU 21981 differs from all more crown-ward baleen-bearing mysticetes (Balaenopteridae, Cetotheriidae/Neobalaenidae, Balaenidae, Eschrichtiidae, †Parietobalaena, and †Dioroc- etus and others) in tympanoperiotic features including: unfused posterior processes of the periotic and tympanic bulla; the presence of a fovea epitubaria for the accessory ossicle on the ventral margin of the anterior process; a well-developed superior process; the presence of a sigmoidal cavity; the presence of an elliptical foramen; marked horizontal inflection on the sigmoid cleft of the sigmoid process. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: subo = suborder, o = order | |||||
| Reference: Uhen 2004 | |||||
Age range: Whaingaroan or 34.60000 to 27.30000 Ma
Collections: one only
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whaingaroan | New Zealand (South Island) | Toipahautea waitaki (type locality: 216918) |