PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Piscolithax

Osteichthyes - Cetacea - Phocoenidae

Taxonomy

Piscolithax was named by Muizon (1983) [Sepkoski's age data: T Mi-u T Plio-l Sepkoski's reference number: 746]. Its type is Piscolithax longirostris.

It was assigned to Phocaenidae by Carroll (1988); to Phocoenoidinae by Barnes (1985), de Muizon (1988), Vidal (1991), McKenna and Bell (1997), Fordyce and de Muizon (2001); to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); and to Phocoenidae by Muizon (1983), Muizon (1984), Benton (1993), Fajardo-Mellor et al. (2006), Uhen et al. (2008), Murakami et al. (2014), Colpaert et al. (2015), Marx et al. (2016), Berta (2017), Benites-Palomino et al. (2023).

Species

P. boreios, P. longirostris (type species), P. tedfordi

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1983	Piscolithax Muizon p. 1203
1984	Piscolithax Muizon p. 80
1985	Piscolithax Barnes p. 161
1988	Piscolithax Carroll
1988	Piscolithax de Muizon p. 162
1991	Piscolithax Vidal p. 5
1993	Piscolithax Benton p. 762
1997	Piscolithax McKenna and Bell p. 390
2001	Piscolithax Fordyce and de Muizon p. 179
2002	Piscolithax Sepkoski
2006	Piscolithax Fajardo-Mellor et al. p. 928
2008	Piscolithax Uhen et al. p. 591
2014	Piscolithax Murakami et al. p. 502 figs. Figure 7
2015	Piscolithax Colpaert et al. p. 9 figs. Figure 8
2016	Piscolithax Marx et al. p. 139
2017	Piscolithax Berta p. 165
2023	Piscolithax Benites-Palomino et al. p. 3

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
class	Osteichthyes
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes

Rank	Name	Author
class	Mammalia
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Euungulata
—	Artiodactylamorpha
—	Artiodactyla	()
—	Whippomorpha
order	Cetacea
—	Pelagiceti
—	Neoceti
suborder	Odontoceti
infraorder	Delphinida
superfamily	Delphinoidea
family	Phocoenidae	()
genus	Piscolithax

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Piscolithax Muizon 1983

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†Piscolithax boreios Barnes 1984

†Piscolithax longirostris Muizon 1983

†Piscolithax tedfordi Barnes 1984

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatitesubo

Form:

roller-shapedo

Ontogeny:

modification of partso

Environment:

marine, freshwatersubo

Locomotion:

actively mobileo

Life habit:

aquatico

Depth habitat:

surfaceo

Diet:

piscivoref

Reproduction:

viviparoussubo

Created:

2005-06-08 10:11:09

Modified:

2005-06-08 12:11:09

Source: f = family, subo = suborder, o = order

References: Uhen 2004, Nowak 1991

Age range: base of the Tortonian to the top of the Messinian or 11.63000 to 5.33300 Ma

Collections (6 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Tortonian	11.63 - 7.246	Peru (Arequipa)	P. sp. (45485)
Tortonian	11.63 - 7.246	USA (California)	P. sp. (13300)
Tortonian - Messinian	11.63 - 5.333	Peru	P. longirostris (46083)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	Peru (Caraveli)	P. sp. (46084)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	Peru	P. longirostris (13079)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	Mexico (Baja California)	P. boreios, P. tedfordi (45458)