Phocoenidae

Porpoises are small dolphin-like cetaceans classified under the family Phocoenidae. Although similar in appearance to dolphins, they are more closely related to narwhals and belugas. There are eight extant species of porpoise, all among the smallest of the toothed whales. Porpoises are distinguished from dolphins by their flattened, spade-shaped teeth distinct from the conical teeth of dolphins, and lack of a pronounced beak, although some dolphins also lack a pronounced beak. Porpoises, and other cetaceans, belong to the clade Cetartiodactyla with even-toed ungulates.

Phocoenidae

Erik Christensen · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
porpoisePBDB
Sits inside
DelphinoideaPBDB
Diet
piscivorePBDB
Life habit
aquatic, depth=surfacePBDB, for Cetacea
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Cetacea
Environment
marine,freshwaterPBDB, for Odontoceti

Time the record covers

At least 13 million years on record.

The record covers at least 13.82 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 15.98 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 33 of 110 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 26 of 110 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 4 of 110 occurrencesPleistocene16–16 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences14–14 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences12–12 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 2 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 2 occurrences10–9.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.9–9.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.3–8.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.8–8.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences8.2–7.7 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.7–7.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.1–6.6 Mya — about 4 occurrences6.6–6.0 Mya — about 4 occurrences6.0–5.5 Mya — about 4 occurrences5.5–4.9 Mya — about 5 occurrences4.9–4.4 Mya — about 6 occurrences4.4–3.8 Mya — about 6 occurrences3.8–3.3 Mya — about 5 occurrences3.3–2.7 Mya — about 4 occurrences2.7–2.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.2–1.6 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences1.1–549 ka Mya — about 0.3 occurrences549 ka–0 Mya — about 50 occurrences13.82 Mya11.7 ka16.5 Mya0 Mya

110 occurrences of Phocoenidae on record. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

110 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

23 formations

Pisco — 15.58°S, 74.72°WPisco — 15.44°S, 74.87°WPisco — 15.50°S, 74.80°WPisco — 15.55°S, 74.80°WPisco — 14.57°S, 75.73°WPurisima — 37.28°N, 122.41°WPurisima — 36.98°N, 121.95°WMonterey — 33.79°N, 118.35°WMonterey — 33.60°N, 117.80°WMonterey — 33.56°N, 117.71°WAlmejas — 28.11°N, 115.18°WWakkanai — 45.25°N, 141.75°EWakkanai — 44.83°N, 142.00°EKoetoi — 45.39°N, 141.76°EKoetoi — 44.77°N, 141.96°EEmbetsu — 44.35°N, 141.73°EHorokaoshirarika — 43.84°N, 141.88°ESan Mateo — 33.20°N, 117.37°WBahía Inglesa — 27.08°S, 70.84°WBahía Inglesa — 27.14°S, 70.88°WSan Diego — 32.90°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.64°N, 117.03°WVarswater — 33.67°S, 18.43°ETemblor — 35.30°N, 118.50°WPińczów Limestone — 50.52°N, 20.53°EMochikubetsu — 44.38°N, 141.71°ECapistrano — 33.48°N, 117.71°WTirabuzon — 27.31°N, 112.25°WCromer Forest Bed — 52.91°N, 1.36°ELillo — 51.28°N, 4.22°EOosterhout — 51.70°N, 5.73°EKattendijk — 51.26°N, 4.27°EGoose Creek Limestone — 32.65°N, 79.94°WGoose Creek — 32.85°N, 79.99°W

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The named rock units Phocoenidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 52 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Found in the same rock

579 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 88 sites for Phocoenidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

63 references

Each of the 110 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 51 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Phocoenidae

Credit
Erik Christensen
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Phocoenidae indet. · sdhm:65276

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itDelphinoidea through timeThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Gray 1825)