Cetacean Fossils

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The Order Cetacea includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises and are subdivided into two sub-orders, the Odontocete (toothed cetaceans) and the Mysticete (baleen cetaceans).

Currently, there are 39 species of Cetacea identified from the neighboring phosphate mine, consisting of both Odontocetes and Mysticetes.

Odontocete (oh-don-tuh-seet): Are characterized by an asymmetrical skull, a single blowhole, and rows of teeth. The Lee Creek Odontocete fossil record includes dolphins, killer whales, and sperm whales to name a few. The typical diet of an Odontocete consists of fish, squid, and crustaceans.

Mysticete (mis-tuh-seet): Are characterized by a symmetrical skull, paired blowholes, and rows of baleen plates for feeding on plankton. Mysticetes recorded in the Lee Creek (Aurora) fossil record include humpback, gray, and right whales.

Click here to visit the "A Whale of a Challenge" page to learn about the process behind acquiring, preserving, transporting, interpreting, and displaying an 8x8-foot block containing 25 fossilized vertebrae belonging to a baleen whale discovered in the neighboring phosphate mine!

Pungo River Formation Cetaceans

Suborder Odontoceti

Family Squalodontidae (shark-tooth dolphins)
Squalodon, cf. S. whitmorei
Squalodon calvertensis
Squalodon sp.
Squalodontidae, incertae sedis (genus and species undetermined)

Family Squalodelphinidae (shark-tooth dolphins)
aff. Phocageneus venustus

Family Platanistidae (river dolphins)
Araeodelphis, cf. A. natator
Pomatodelphis sp.

Family Ziphiidae (beaked whales)
Choneziphius trachops
Anoplonassa sp.

Family Eurhinodelphinidae (long-snouted dolphins)
Xiphiacetus sp.

Family Kentriodontidae (extinct family of toothed whales)
Kentriodon schneideri
Kentriodon sp.
Delphinodon dividum
aff. Lophocetus pappus Kellogg, 1955
aff. Atocetus Muizon, 1988

Family Physeteridae (sperm whales)
Physeteridae, incertae sedis (genus and species undetermined)

Odontoceti, incertae sedis (genus and species undetermined)
Nannolithax sp.
Delphinodon, cf. D. mento
Tretosphys gabbii, cf. Champsodelphis, species undetermined

Yorktown Formation Cetaceans

Suborder Odontoceti

Family Ziphiidae (beaked whales)
Ninoziphius, cf. N. platyrostris
Mesoplodon longirostris
Ziphius, cf. Z. cavirostris

Family Pontoporiidae (river dolphins)
cf. Pontoporia sp.

Family Delphinidae (true dolphins, killer whales, and pilot whales)
Delphinus sp.
Lagenorhynchus harmatuki
Lagenorhynchus sp.
Stenella rayi
cf. Stenella sp.
Tursiops sp.
Globicephala sp.
Pseudorca sp.

Family Monodontidae (beluga whales and narwhals)
Delphinapterus sp.

Family Kogiidae (pygmy sperm whales)
Aprixokogia kelloggi
Kogiinae, incertae sedis

Family Physeteridae (sperm whales)
Physeteridae, incertae sedis
Physeterinae, incertae sedis

Suborder Mysticeti

Family Cetotheriidae (pygmy right whale**)
Herpetocetus transatlanticus
Cetotheriinae, genus and species undetermined

Family Balaenopteridae (rorqual and humpback whale)
Balaenoptera, cf. B. acutorostrata
Balaenoptera borealina
Megaptera sp.

Family Eschrichtiidae (gray whale)
Gricetoides aurorae

Family Balaenidae (right whale)
Balaenula sp.
Balaena sp.

Mysticeti, Family incertae sedis
cf. Plesiocetus sp.

** See Fordyce and Marx, 2012.

References
•Fordyce R E, Marx F G. 2012, The pygmy right whale Caperea marginata: the last of the cetotheres. Proc R Soc B 280:20122645. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2645

•Ray, Clayton E., David J. Bohaska, Irina A. Koretsky, Lauck W. Ward, and Lawrence G. Barnes, eds. Geology and Paleontology of the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, IV. Martinsville, VA: Virginia Museum Of Natural History, No. 14, 2008. Print.

Cetacean Fossils | Aurora Fossil Museum