Nanokogia

Nanokogia is an extinct genus of pygmy sperm whale that lived off the coast of Panama during the Late Miocene.

Nanokogia
Temporal range: Late Miocene 11.6–7.2 Ma
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Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Kogiidae
Genus: †Nanokogia
Velez-Juarbe et al. 2015
Species
  • N. isthmia Velez-Juarbe et al., 2015

Description

Nanokogia is distinguished from other kogiids in lacking functional teeth in the upper jaw, antorbital notches forming a narrow slit, antorbital notches within the supracranial basin, and the left premaxilla excluded from the sagittal facial crest. The absence of functional teeth is also seen in modern pygmy sperm whales and the extinct genus Scaphokogia.[1]

Biology

Nanokogia relied on suction-feeding to capture squid and diel-migrating fishes, given the absence of functional teeth in the upper jaw.

References
  1. J. Velez-Juarbe, A. R. Wood, C. Gracia and A. J. W. Hendy. 2015. Evolutionary patterns among living and fossil kogiid sperm whales: Evidence from the Neogene of Central America. PLoS One 10(4):e0123909
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