Eodelphinus is an extinct genus of oceanic dolphins belonging to the family Delphinidae.
Description Eodelphinus differs from all other delphinids by having a medially positioned premaxillary foramen, a partially transversely directed suture line between the palatine and pterygoid on the palate, and prominently long and ventrolaterally extended posterior process of the periotic with the attenuating posterior bullar facet. It possesses a wide ascending process of the left premaxilla relative to the right premaxilla at level of the middle of the external nares as in the killer whale and Hemisyntrachelus.
Taxonomy Eodelphinus was originally described in 1977 as a new species of Stenella, S. kabatensis, from a partial skull found in marine deposits in Hokkaido, Japan.H. Horikawa. 1977. A new species of fossil dolphin from the Miocene deposits of Kabato Mountainland, Hokkaido, Japan. Chikyu kagaku 31(3):97-114. Later, Ichisima (2005) questioned the attribution of S. kabatensis to Stenella, stressing the need for re-assessment of the taxon.Ichishima, H. 2005. [A re-evaluation of some Japanese cetacean fossils]. Memoir of the Fukui Prefecture Dinosaur Museum 4:1–20. [Japanese] Subsequent study by Mizuki Murakami and colleagues published in 2014 showed that S. kabatensis is the most basal member of Delphinidae, necessitating erection of the new genus Eodelphis.M. Murakami, C. Shimada, Y. Hikidad, Y. Soedae, and H. Hirano. 2014. Eodelphis kabatensis, a new name for the oldest true dolphin Stenella kabatensis Horikawa, 1977 (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Delphinidae), from the upper Miocene of Japan, and the phylogeny and paleobiogeography of Delphinoidea. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34(3):491-511 However, the genus name was changed to Eodelphinus because Eodelphis was already used for a fossil opossum.M. Murakami, C. Shimada, Y. Hikida and Y. Soeda. 2014. Eodelphinus kabatensis, a replacement name for Eodelphis kabatensis (Cetacea: Delphinoidea: Delphinidae). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34(5):1261
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