Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Waipatia

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Kingdom
  
Class
  
Infraorder
  
Scientific name
  
Waipatia maerewhenua

Phylum
  
Chordata

Order
  
Artiodactyla

Superfamily
  
Platanistoidea (?)

Rank
  
Genus

Waipatia wwwnyitedufilesmedicinecetaceanfamilytreew

Similar
  
Squalodontidae, Prosqualodon, Squalodon, Kentriodon, Eurhinodelphis

Waipatia is an extinct genus of whale from the late Oligocene (Chattian) of New Zealand.

Taxonomy

The type species, Waipatia maerewhenua is known from a single skull found near 45° South in Otago . The second species, W. hectori, was originally named Microcetus hectori in 1935, but later recognized as distinct from Microcetus. "Uncamentodon" was informally coined for M. hectori in a table by Rothausen in a 1970 paper, but the lack of a diagnosis or description made it a nomen nudum. Finally in 2015, M. hectori was recognized as a second species of Waipatia based on preparation of additional material included in the holotype.

References

Waipatia Wikipedia