Parapontoporia Temporal range:
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Reconstruction of Parapontoporia pacifica (top) with the fossil porpoise Piscolithax tedfordi | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | Lipotidae |
Genus: | †
Parapontoporia Barnes, 1984 |
Type species | |
†Parapontoporia pacifica | |
Species | |
Parapontoporia is an extinct genus of dolphin that lived off the Pacific coast of North America from the Late Miocene until the genus' extinction during the Pliocene. [1] [2] It is related to the baiji. [3] Fossils have been found in California ( Tulare Formation) and Mexico ( Almejas Formation). The Tulare Formation is predominately freshwater, which suggests Parapontoporia may have been tolerant of both salt and fresh water. [3]