| Xiphiacetus | |
|---|---|
| FossilX. bossi | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | †Eurhinodelphinidae |
| Genus: | †Xiphiacetus Lambert 2005 |
| Species | |
| |
Xiphiacetus is an extinct genus of cetacean known from theMiocene (earlyBurdigalian to lateTortonian,20.43 to 7.246 million years ago of Europe and the U.S. East Coast.[1][2]
du Bus 1872 describedPriscodelphinus cristatus based on partial and poorly preserved skulls with extremely long and narrowrostra with a huge number of densely packed teeth. He estimated the rostrum of a large specimen to be 90 cm (35 in) long and the cranium to be 20 cm (7.9 in) long and slightly wider. He also found a series of well-preserved cervicals and a few of the anterior-most thoracics.[3]
Kellogg 1925 describedEurhindelphis bossi based on an almost complete skull missing ear bones, both mandibles, sixteen vertebrae, ten ribs, an incomplete scapula, a humerus, and a partial sternum. Kellogg named his species after its discoverer, Norman H. Boss, who had discovered the type specimen in 1918.[4] Kellogg also described several other fossils.
Lambert 2005 recombined these two taxa and placed them under the generic nameXiphiacetus.[5]