Praepusa
| Praepusa Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Clade: | Pinnipedia |
| Family: | Phocidae |
| Subfamily: | Phocinae |
| Genus: | †Praepusa Kretzoi, 1941 |
| Species | |
| |
Praepusa is an extinct genus of earless seals from Neogene marine deposits in Europe. Five species, P. boeska, P. magyaricus, P. pannonica, P. tarchankutica and P. vindoboensis, are known.
Description
[edit]Praepusa's occipital bones possess well-developed jugular processes. The canine teeth are developed, and the molars are predominantly tricuspid in form, and, like the premolars, are packed closely together. The mandible as a whole is small and thin,[1] with a symphyseal portion that is bluntly rounded, and the chin is most prominent between premolars 3–4.[2] The facial part of the skull is relatively low and shortened, and the mandible is more compact. The deltoid crest of the humerus is sharp, with maximal distention at its proximal end. The trochanteric fossa of the femur is wide and medially open, though deep.[3]
Taxonomy
[edit]There are five recognized species of Praepusa. P. boeska, known from Pliocene deposits in the Netherlands, is notable for being the smallest fossil seal, with a size comparable to the smallest extant seals of the genus Pusa.[4] The other species include P. magyaricus, found in Serravallian-age deposits in Hungary,[3] P. pannonica, known from Miocene marine deposits in the eastern Paratethys,[5] P. tarchankutica, known from the Miocene of Ukraine,[6] and P. vindobonensis, known from Miocene marine deposits in central and eastern Europe.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ Hafed, Azizah B.; Nance, John R.; Koretsky, Irina A.; Rahmat, Sulman J. (2023). "New seal mandibles belonging to the subfamilies Monachinae and Phocinae discovered in the Neogene of North Carolina (USA)". Historical Biology. 35 (5): 705–720. doi:10.1080/08912963.2022.2063053. S2CID 248248801 – via Taylor & Francis.
- ^ Antonyuk, A. A.; Koretskaya, I. A. (1984). "A new seal from the Middle Sarmatian deposits of the Crimean district of Ukraine" (PDF). Vestnik Zoologii. 4: 26–31.
- ^ a b I. A. Koretsky. 2003. New finds of Sarmatian seals (Mammalia, Carnivora, Phocinae) from southern Hungary. Advances in Vertebrate Paleontology "Hen to Panta" 63-70.
- ^ I. A. Koretsky, N. Peters, and S. Rahmat. 2015. New species of Praepusa (Carnivora, Phocidae, Phocinae) from the Netherlands supports east to west Neogene dispersal of true seals. Vestnik zoologii 49(1):57-66
- ^ I. Koretsky. 2001. Morphology and systematics of Miocene Phocinae (Mammalia: Carnivora) from Paratethys and the North Atlantic region. Geologica Hungarica Series Palaeontologica 54:1-109
- ^ A. A. Antoniuk and I. A. Koretsky. 1984. A new seal species from the middle Sarmatian deposits of the Crimean district of Ukraine. Vestnik Zoologii 1984(4):26-31
- ^ Toula, F (1897). "Phoca vindobonensis n. sp. von Nussdorf in Wien // Beiträge zur Paläontologie und Geologie Öster-reich-Ungarns und des Orients." Mittheilungen des Paläontologischen Instituts der Universität Wien. 41: 47–70.
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