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Sarcodectes magnus

Osteichthyes - Carnivora - Phocidae

Taxonomy
Sarcodectes magnus was named by Rule et al. (2020). Its type specimen is USNM PAL 475486 and is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Lee Creek Mine, Yorktown Formation, which is in a Zanclean estuary/bay sandstone in the Yorktown Formation of North Carolina.

Synonymy list
YearName and author
2020Sarcodectes magnus Rule et al. p. 6 figs. Fig. 2-8
2024Sarcodectes magnus Rule and Park p. 11 figs. Table 2

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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
Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
Cladotheria
RankNameAuthor
Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
Eutheria()
Placentalia
Boreoeutheria
Laurasiatheria
Scrotifera
Ferae()
Pancarnivora
CarnivoramorphaWyss and Flynn 1993
CarnivoraformesFlynn et al.
orderCarnivora
suborderCaniformiaKretzoi 1943
infraorderCanoidea(Simpson 1931)
superfamilyArctoideaFlower 1869
PanpinnipediaWolsan et al. 2020
Pinnipedimorpha
Pinnipedia()
familyPhocidae()
subfamilyMonachinae
genusSarcodectes
speciesmagnus

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.

Sarcodectes magnus Rule et al. 2020
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
J. P. Rule et al. 2020A phocid on the basis of: the bulbous inflated tympanic bulla, nasal inserted between the
frontals and a pachyosteosclerotic mastoid. A monachine due to: the presence of four instead of six upper incisors (the latter state for all phocines except C. cristata); the premaxilla forming the lateral border of the nasal aperture, which is partially obscured in lateral view; the carotid foramen being visible in ventral view and a mastoid that is obscured in dorsal view.
A large seal, of an adult size comparable to the extant H. leptonyx. Differentiated from all other phocids by the following combination of features: on the upper postcanines, the height of the main cusp is less than twice the height of the accessory cusps, with thin carinae on both the mesial and distal edge (absent in all phocids except Monachini); distinct intercuspid notch between the main cusps and immediate distal accessory cusp; the postcanine teeth are not obliquely orientated (unlike Monachini), with the cusps of each tooth orientated in the mesial–distal plane; the diastema separating the PC4 and PC5 is large relative to the other diastemas in the upper postcanine tooth row (present in both ‘stem’ and crown-lobodontins to the exception of Lobodon and Ommatophoca); the lateral surface of the posteroventral apex of the tympanic bulla covers the petrosal, but is not covered by the mastoid (similar to Mirounga); the mastoid, on the posteroventral surface, possesses an enlarged, convex protuberance that flares laterally, which is lacking in other monachines; viewed dorsally, the region of the squamosal that lies dorsal to the mastoid barely extends past the auricular opening, resulting in a lack of a post-auricular shelf (also present in Mirounga, Hydrurga and Monotherium? wymani); the external auditory meatus extends anteriorly as a groove onto the post- glenoid process (also present on Erignathus, and more subtly on Cystophora); possesses a large, rounded, antero-posteriorly thick medial epicondyle on the humerus, with a proximally located fossa for the origin of the pronator teres on its anterior surface; and possesses a combination of a medio- laterally thickened deltopectoral crest that is obliterated on the shaft distally (in posterior view), no fossa for the medial head of the triceps brachii, a virtually absent radial fossa, a shallow olecranon fossa and a lateral epicondylar crest that does not project posteriorly.
Measurements
No measurements are available
Composition: hydroxyapatiteuc
Ontogeny: modification of partsuc
Environment: marineuc
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Life habit: amphibiousuc
Diet: piscivoref
Diet 2: carnivoref
Reproduction: viviparousuc
Created: 2005-06-08 10:11:09
Modified: 2005-06-08 12:11:09
Source: f = family, c = class, uc = unranked clade
References: Hendy et al. 2009, Carreño and Cronin 1993, Nowak 1991, Gingerich 2003

Age range: Zanclean or 5.33300 to 3.60000 Ma

Collections (2 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6USA (North Carolina) Sarcodectes magnus (type locality: 52582)
Pliocene5.333 - 2.58USA (North Carolina) Sarcodectes magnus (123861)