Kekenodon

Kekenodon is an extinct kekenodontid early whale from the Late Oligocene (Chattian) of New Zealand. Measuring 8–9 m (26–30 ft) long, it was a large raptorial whale which hunted marine mammals and penguins.[1] Although at times classified as a basilosaurid, mysticete, or odontocete, recent work suggests that it represents a phylogenetic intermediate form between Basilosauridae and Neoceti.

Kekenodon
Temporal range:
Teeth of Kekenodon onamata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: †Kekenodontidae
Mitchell, 1989
Genus: †Kekenodon
Hector, 1881
Species
  • †K. onamata
    Hector, 1881

Classification

Kekenodon was considered a member of the basilosaurid subfamily Dorudontinae in the classic monograph on Archaeoceti by Kellogg (1936).[2]

"Squalodon" gambierensis from Australia is a close relative of Kekenodon.[3]

Phylogenetic analysis suggests that Kekenodon is the "latest-surviving archaeocete, sister-taxon to the Neoceti."[1]

References
  1. Corrie, Joshua E.; Fordyce, R. Ewan (2022). "A redescription and re-evaluation of Kekenodon onamata (Mammalia: Cetacea), a late-surviving archaeocete from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 196 (4): 1637–1670. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlac019.
  2. R. Kellogg. 1936. A Review of the Archaeoceti. Carnegie Institution of Washington 482:1-366
  3. R. E. Fordyce. 2006. A southern perspective on Cetacean Evolution and Zoogeoraphy. Evolution and Biogeography of Australasian Vertebrates 755-782
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