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Cozzuoliphyseter rionegrensis

Mammalia - Cetacea

Taxonomy
Aulophyseter rionegrensis was named by Gondar (1974). Its type specimen is MLP 62-XII-19-1, a skull (skull and lower jaws with teeth), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Rio Negro, which is in a Messinian marine horizon in Argentina. It is the type species of Cozzuoliphyseter.

It was considered an invalid subgroup of Aulophyseterinae by Kazár (2002); it was considered an invalid subgroup of Physeteridae by Bianucci and Landini (2006); it was considered an invalid subgroup of Physeteroidea by Lambert et al. (2008) and Perez et al. (2011); it was recombined as Cozzuoliphyseter rionegrensis by Paolucci et al. (2021).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1974Aulophyseter rionegrensis Gondar
2021Cozzuoliphyseter rionegrensis Paolucci et al.

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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
RankNameAuthor
Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
Theriiformes()
Trechnotheria
Cladotheria
Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
Eutheria()
Placentalia
Boreoeutheria
Laurasiatheria
Scrotifera
Euungulata
Artiodactylamorpha
Artiodactyla()
Whippomorpha
orderCetacea
Pelagiceti
Neoceti
suborderOdontoceti
superfamilyPhyseteroidea
genusCozzuoliphyseter
speciesrionegrensis()

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.

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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
F. Paolucci et al. 2021Same as for the type and only known species. Small- to medium-sized physeteroid (about 4 m) having two autapomorphies: deep alveoli with rudimentary septa in the maxilla (char. 7) and absence of one nasal (char. 20). Cozzuoliphyseter rionegrensis has the following unique combination of characters: bottleneck-shaped rostrum, occipital shield sloped obliquely with respect to the transversal plane of the skull, two right dorsal infraorbital foramina, a large left premaxillary foramen (approximately the same length as the right premaxillary foramen, Table 1), entirely dorsally open mesorostral canal, ventrally oriented and acutely shaped postorbital process, large orbit (about half of the neurocranium length), long zygomatic process of the squamosal (about the same length as the orbit), large temporal fossa (occupying more than 50% of the neurocranium in lateral view) and supracranial basin not extended in the rostrum. Differs from Aulophyseter morricei in having a longer zygomatic process (ratio between length of zygomatic process and CBL = 0.15 vs. 0.18), triangular and slender postorbital process, lesser exposure of maxilla on the rostrum in dorsal view, occipital condyle not visible in lateral view, two dorsal infraorbital foramina to the right side, a left premaxillary foramen, alveolar groove with rudimentary septa, thin and not dorsoventrally flattened premaxillae on to the rostrum and a dorsally open mesorostral canal; from Diaphorocetus in having a less oblique occipital shield, zygomatic process not ventrally oriented, alveolar groove without interalveolar septa (in the holotype there are rudimentary septa, whereas in the paratype the interalveolar septa are absent), in having a lower number of dorsal infraorbital foramina; from Idiorophus in having a thin lateral wall of the supracranial basin (formed by the maxilla), a triangular postorbital process, open mesorostral canal and an alveolar groove without interalveolar septa; from Placoziphius in having transversely wider ventral exposure of the vomer and posterior ‘V’-shaped end of the mesorostral canal; from Eudelphis in having a bottleneck-shaped rostrum and dorsoventrally shorter postglenoid process; from Physeterula in having premaxillae not flattened and a straight ventral margin of mandible; from Orycterocetus crocodilinus in having a left premaxillary foramen and the occipital shield more obliquely oriented; from Idiophyseter in having less posterior protruding occipital condyles and quadrangular temporal fossa; from Physeter macrocephalus in having a smaller skull (27% smaller, based on bizygomatic width BZW of an adult male), a supracranial basin that does not extend on to the rostrum, oblique occipital shield and a bottleneck- shaped rostrum; from Kogiidae in having a larger
skull (BZW more than 40 cm) and in lacking a sagittal crest; and from macroraptorial physeteroid genera (Acrophyseter, Albicetus, Brygmophyseter, Livyatan, Zygophyseter) in having proportionally smaller teeth (greatest transverse diameter of root < 5% of BZW) and a flattened skull.