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

Monodon (narwhal)

Mammalia - Cetacea - Monodontidae

Taxonomy
Monodon was named by Linnaeus (1758) [Sepkoski's age data: Q Plei]. It is extant. It was considered monophyletic by Weber (1928).

It was assigned to Cete by Linnaeus (1758); to Monoceratina by Gray (1846); to Phocaenina by Gray (1825) and Gray (1864); to Belugidae by Gray (1868) and Gray (1870); to Leucodelphini by Brandt (1873); to Delphinapterinae by Hay (1902) and Trouessart (1904); to Monodontes by Winge (1921); to Beluginae by Flower (1867), Abel (1905) and Zittel (1925); to Delphinidae by Gray (1846), Gray (1850), Gray (1866), Scammon and Cope (1869), Lydekker (1887), Cope (1890), Newton (1891), Palmer (1904), Turner (1912) and Kellogg (1928); to Monodontinae by Miller (1923), Hay (1930), Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott (1951), Fraser and Purves (1960), Scheffer and Rice (1963), Kasuya (1973), de Muizon (1988), McKenna and Bell (1997) and Fordyce and de Muizon (2001); to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Delphinapteridae by Weber (1928) and Buchholtz and Schur (2004); and to Monodontidae by Gray (1821), Pictet (1853), Simpson (1945), Reeves and Tracey (1980), Carroll (1988), Stewart and Stewart (1989), Rice (1998), Geisler and Sanders (2003), Mead and Brownell (2005), Agnarsson and May-Collado (2008), Murakami et al. (2014), Marx et al. (2016) and Berta (2017).

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1758Monodon Linnaeus p. 75
1762Ceratodon Brisson p. 218
1762Ceratodontis Brisson p. 218
1780Monodon spurius Fabricius
1780Diodon Storr
1804Narwalus Lacépède p. 142
1806Narwhalus Dumeril p. 28
1811Ceratodon Illiger p. 142
1814Narvalus Fischer
1821Monodon Gray p. 310
1822Delphinus anarnacus Desmarest
1825Monodon Gray p. 340
1828Tachynices Brookes p. 44
1829Delphinus spurius Fischer p. 515
1846Monodon Gray p. 29
1850Monodon Gray p. 74
1853Monodon Pictet p. 384
1864Monodon Gray p. 246
1866Monodon Gray p. 310
1867Monodon Flower p. 115
1868Monodon Gray p. 9
1869Monodon Scammon and Cope p. 21
1870Monodon Gray p. 773
1873Monodon Brandt p. 231
1887Monodon Lydekker p. 75
1890Monodon Cope p. 609
1891Monodon Newton p. 78
1902Monodon Hay p. 594
1904Monodon Palmer p. 431
1904Narwalus Palmer p. 448
1904Monodon Trouessart p. 772
1905Monodon Abel p. 129
1912Monodon Turner p. 96
1921Monodon Winge p. 35
1923Monodon Miller p. 40
1925Monodon Zittel p. 87
1928Monodon Kellogg p. 33 figs. Table 1
1928Monodon Weber p. 389
1930Monodon Hay p. 595
1945Monodon Simpson p. 102
1951Monodon Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott p. 729
1960Monodon Fraser and Purves p. 112 figs. Figure 26
1963Monodon Scheffer and Rice p. 5
1973Monodon Kasuya p. 61
1980Monodon Reeves and Tracey p. 1
1988Monodon Carroll
1988Monodon de Muizon p. 162
1989Monodon Stewart and Stewart p. 1
1997Monodon McKenna and Bell p. 389
1998Monodon Rice p. 97
2001Monodon Fordyce and de Muizon p. 179
2002Monodon Sepkoski
2003Monodon Geisler and Sanders p. 28
2004Monodon Buchholtz and Schur p. 384 figs. Figure 1
2005Monodon Mead and Brownell p. 735
2008Monodon Agnarsson and May-Collado p. 981 figs. Fig. 5
2014Monodon Murakami et al. p. 502 figs. Figure 7
2016Monodon Marx et al. p. 136
2017Monodon Berta p. 164

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
—Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
—Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
RankNameAuthor
—Theriiformes()
—Trechnotheria
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—Laurasiatheria
—Scrotifera
—Euungulata
—Artiodactylamorpha
—Artiodactyla()
—Whippomorpha
orderCetacea
—Pelagiceti
—Neoceti
suborderOdontoceti
infraorderDelphinida
superfamilyDelphinoidea
familyMonodontidae
genusMonodon

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.

G. Monodon Linnaeus 1758 [narwhal]
show all | hide all
Monodon monoceros Linnaeus 1758 [narhwal]
hide
Invalid names: Ceratodon monodon Pallas 1811 [synonym], Ceratodontis ceratodon Brisson 1762 [synonym], Monodon narhval Borowski 1781 [synonym], Monodon narhwal Blumenbach 1779 [synonym], Narwalus andersonianus Lacépède 1804 [synonym], Narwalus microcephalus Lacépède 1804 [synonym], Narwalus vulgaris Lacépède 1804 [synonym], Tachynices megacephalus Brookes 1828 [synonym]
Invalid names: Ceratodon Brisson 1762 [synonym], Ceratodontis Brisson 1762 [synonym], Delphinus anarnacus Desmarest 1822 [nomen dubium], Diodon Storr 1780 [synonym], Monodon spurius Fabricius 1780 [nomen dubium], Narvalus Fischer 1814 [synonym], Narwalus Lacépède 1804 [synonym], Narwhalus Dumeril 1806 [synonym], Tachynices Brookes 1828 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Measurements
partNmean

Composition: hydroxyapatitesubo
Form: roller-shapedo
Ontogeny: modification of partso
Environment: marine, freshwatersubo
Locomotion: actively mobileo
Life habit: aquatico
Depth habitat: surfaceo
Diet: piscivoref
Reproduction: viviparoussubo
Created: 2005-06-08 10:11:09
Modified: 2005-06-08 12:11:09
Source: f = family, subo = suborder, o = order
References: Uhen 2004, Nowak 1991

Age range

Maximum range based only on fossils: base of the Zanclean to the top of the Holocene or 5.33300 to 0.00000 Ma
Minimum age of oldest fossil (stem group age): 3.6 Ma

Collections (25 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Middle Miocene - Early/Lower Pleistocene15.97 - 0.781Netherlands Monodon sp. (189573)
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6USA (North Carolina) Monodon sp. (52582)
Gelasian2.588 - 1.806United Kingdom (England) Monodon monoceros (48093)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117United Kingdom (England) Monodon monoceros (85135)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129United Kingdom (England) Monodon monoceros (58419 77754)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Netherlands Monodon monoceros (109703)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Canada (Quebec) Monodon monoceros (96874)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Greenland Monodon monoceros (227040)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Canada (New Brunswick) Monodon monoceros (73672)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Svalbard and Jan Mayen Monodon monoceros (168232)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Greenland (Qeqertasussuk) Monodon monoceros (187755)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Greenland Monodon monoceros (162545 227877 229885 229938 229939 229940 229942 229943)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Iceland Monodon monoceros (168231)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Canada (Newfoundland and Labrador) Monodon monoceros (168230)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Canada (Nunavut) Monodon monoceros (73710 228919)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Greenland (Carey Oer) Monodon monoceros (177153)