Waipatiidae is an extinct family of odontocetes currently known from the Oligocene of the Pacific Ocean and possibly Europe and the Caucasus.
Taxonomy
Waipatiidae was coined by Fordyce (1994) to include his new taxon Waipatia, and he also considered the genera Microcetus, Sachalinocetus, and Sulakocetus to be possible waipatiids.[1] The taxon "Prosqualodon" marplesi was recognized in the 2010s as being a member of Waipatiidae and given its own genus, Otekaikea.[2][3][4]
References
^Fordyce, R. Ewan (1994). A. Berta; T. Deméré (eds.). "Waipatia maerewhenua, new genus and new species (Waipatiidae, new family), an archaic Late Oligocene dolphin (Cetacea: Odontoceti: Platanistoidea) from New Zealand". Proceedings of the San Diego Museum of Natural History. 29, Contributions in marine mammal paleontology honoring Frank C. Whitmore, Jr.: 147–176. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.10662.
^Tanaka, Y.; Fordyce, R. Ewan (2015). "Historically significant late Oligocene dolphin Microcetus hectori Benham 1935: a new species of Waipatia (Platanistoidea)". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 45 (3): 135–150. Bibcode:2015JRSNZ..45..135T. doi:10.1080/03036758.2015.1016046. S2CID129704207.