Squalodontidae

Squalodontidae or the shark-toothed dolphins is an extinct family of large toothed whales who had long narrow jaws. Squalodontids are known from all continents except Antarctica, from the Oligocene to the Neogene, but they had a maximal diversity and global distribution during the Late Oligocene and Early to Middle Miocene.

Squalodontidae

Nobu Tamura · CC BY 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
Sits inside
OdontocetiPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Odontoceti
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 25.2 Mya to 11.63 Mya. No occurrence read is dated outside 27.3 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Oligocene — about 28 of 124 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 95 of 124 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 0 of 124 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 0 of 124 occurrencesPleistocene28–27 Mya — about 2 occurrences27–26 Mya — about 6 occurrences26–25 Mya — about 6 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 6 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 6 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 6 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 6 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 5 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 9 occurrences19–19 Mya — about 9 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 9 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 9 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 8 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 6 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 6 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 7 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 6 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 3 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 1 occurrence10–9.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence9.3–8.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence8.4–7.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.4–6.5 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences6.5–5.6 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences5.6–4.6 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences4.6–3.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences3.7–2.8 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.8–1.9 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.9–928 ka Mya — about 0.1 occurrences928 ka–0 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences25.2 Mya11.63 Mya27.8 Mya0 Mya

124 occurrences of Squalodontidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. 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

124 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

42 formations

Calvert — 39.20°N, 75.60°WCalvert — 38.67°N, 76.53°WCalvert — 38.29°N, 77.03°WCalvert — 38.29°N, 77.15°WCalvert — 38.02°N, 77.06°WCalvert — 38.46°N, 77.01°WCalvert — 37.77°N, 77.37°WCalvert — 38.54°N, 76.70°WCalvert — 38.18°N, 76.97°WCalvert — 38.60°N, 76.51°WCalvert — 37.54°N, 77.45°WCalvert — 38.16°N, 76.83°WCalvert — 38.42°N, 76.90°WCalvert — 38.53°N, 76.52°WCalvert — 38.38°N, 76.99°WChandler Bridge — 32.90°N, 80.07°WChandler Bridge — 33.03°N, 80.27°WChandler Bridge — 32.96°N, 80.15°WChandler Bridge — 32.81°N, 80.11°WChandler Bridge — 32.90°N, 80.04°WPietra Leccese — 40.16°N, 18.29°EPietra Leccese — 40.35°N, 18.17°EBerchem — 51.21°N, 4.43°EBerchem — 51.17°N, 4.46°EBerchem — 51.29°N, 4.27°ELibano Sandstone — 46.14°N, 12.22°EMilburn Limestone — 46.07°S, 170.00°EMilburn Limestone — 44.06°S, 170.01°EPungo River — 35.40°N, 76.80°WArno Limestone — 44.80°S, 170.98°ESalsomaggiore — 44.73°N, 10.03°EKirkwood — 40.17°N, 74.15°WKirkwood — 39.30°N, 75.20°WEl Cien — 24.36°N, 111.02°WEl Cien — 24.38°N, 110.75°WBolognano — 42.24°N, 14.04°EBolognano — 42.22°N, 14.17°ESables des Landes — 43.94°N, 0.75°WSables des Landes — 43.17°N, 0.59°WGlobigerina Limestone — 35.88°N, 14.46°EGlobigerina Limestone — 35.90°N, 14.33°EAbel Head — 40.51°S, 172.75°ETorreya — 30.50°N, 84.50°WLanghiano — 36.92°N, 14.60°EGee Greensand — 45.19°S, 170.90°EJan Juc — 38.20°S, 144.27°ETsotilion — 40.27°N, 21.32°EFilakovo — 48.31°N, 19.70°EBrackwater Molasse — 48.35°N, 9.86°EArenaria di Grumi — 45.71°N, 11.36°EWaita — 33.93°N, 130.72°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Squalodontidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 18 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 33 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Squalodontidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Squalodontidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,179 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 101 sites for Squalodontidae, 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

93 references

Each of the 124 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. 81 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 content1

Picture of Squalodontidae

Credit
Nobu Tamura
Licence
CC BY 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Squalodontidae was found in MorphoSource and Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

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 itOdontoceti through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Brandt 1873