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Choneziphius

Mammalia - Cetacea - Ziphiidae

Synonyms
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1851Choneziphius Duvernoy p. 61
1853Chonoziphius Bronn p. 758
1853Choneziphius Pictet p. 385
1872Choneziphius Gill p. 96
1876Protoziphius Leidy p. 87
1887Choneziphius Lydekker p. 64
1890Choneziphius Cope p. 607
1891Choneziphius Newton p. 69
1898Choneziphius Trouessart p. 1059
1902Choneziphius Hay p. 596
1902Proroziphius Hay p. 597
1904Proroziphius Palmer p. 575
1904Choneziphius Trouessart p. 775
1905Choneziphius Abel p. 106
1919Choneziphius Abel p. 772
1921Chonoxiphius Winge p. 44
1925Choneziphius Zittel p. 86
1928Choneziphius Kellogg p. 33 figs. Table 1
1928Proroziphius Kellogg p. 33 figs. Table 1
1930Choneziphius Hay p. 583
1930Proroziphius Hay p. 583
1945Choneziphius Simpson p. 101
1945Proroziphius Simpson p. 101
1975Choneziphius Mead p. 750 figs. Table 1
1975Proroziphius Mead p. 750 figs. Table 1
1985Choneziphius Pilleri p. 30
1987Choneziphius Pilleri p. 53
1988Choneziphius Carroll
1988Protoziphius Carroll
1990Choneziphius Muizon p. 296
1994Choneziphius Bianucci et al. p. 238
1997Choneziphius McKenna and Bell p. 381
1997Proroziphius McKenna and Bell p. 382
2001Choneziphius Fordyce and de Muizon p. 179
2002Choneziphius Sepkoski
2002Proroziphius Sepkoski
2003Choneziphius Geisler and Sanders p. 29
2005Choneziphius Lambert p. 465
2007Choneziphius Bianucci et al. p. 570
2008Choneziphius Uhen et al. p. 578
2008Proroziphius Uhen et al. p. 580
2008Choneziphius Whitmore and Kaltenbach p. 194
2009Choneziphius Lambert et al. p. 919 figs. Fig. 10
2010Choneziphius Bianucci et al. p. 1093 figs. Figure 14
2013Choneziphius Bianucci et al. p. 110
2013Choneziphius Lambert et al. p. 588 figs. FIgure 14
2016Choneziphius Marx et al. p. 130
2016Choneziphius Ramassamy p. 398 figs. Figure 17
2017Choneziphius Berta p. 162

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
Tetrapoda
Reptiliomorpha
Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
Cotylosauria()
Amniota
subclassSynapsida
Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
Mammaliamorpha
Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
RankNameAuthor
Theriiformes()
Trechnotheria
Cladotheria
Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
Eutheria()
Placentalia
Boreoeutheria
Laurasiatheria
Scrotifera
Euungulata
Artiodactylamorpha
Artiodactyla()
Whippomorpha
orderCetacea
Pelagiceti
Neoceti
suborderOdontoceti
Amblyoccipita
Stegoceti
familyZiphiidae
subfamilyZiphiinae
genusChoneziphius

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. †Choneziphius Duvernoy 1851
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Choneziphius chonops Leidy 1876
Choneziphius leidyi Bianucci et al. 2013
Choneziphius liops Leidy 1876
Choneziphius macrops Leidy 1876
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Invalid names: Choneziphius packardi Lankester 1870 [synonym], Ziphius cuvieri Owen 1870 [synonym], Ziphius planus Owen 1870 [synonym]
Choneziphius trachops Leidy 1876
Invalid names: Proroziphius Leidy 1876 [synonym]
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
M. D. Uhen et al. 2008It is primarily characterized by two cavities in the shape of funnels dug in the incisive bones, at the base of the rostrum and immediately in front of the nostrils, the line being much stronger than the left. The intermaxillaires join over the entire length of the rostrum, in top, and do not reveal the vomer (Duvernoy, 1851).
M. D. Uhen et al. 2008 (Proroziphius)The animal is not only larger than any of those to which the other specimens [from the Ashley phosphate beds] pertained, but with the exception of the Hyperoodon, one of the largest of its kind. The bones of which it is composed are completely co-ossified, so as to leave barely a trace of their original separation, and the specimen is of the usual ivory-like density; supra-vomerine canal is open throughout, but it is exposed only for a few inches at the end; rostrum is long and narrow, with the sides more nearly parallel than in the previously described specimens [Choneziphius, Eboroziphius, and Belemnoziphius]; basal half is prismoid with the upper surface remarkably flat, while the anterior half assumes a more conical form; no crest extends along the middle above as in the two rostra referred to Choneziphius, nor is there any trace visible of a median groove indicating the original separation of the intermaxillaries (Leidy, 1877).
G. Bianucci et al. 2013Choneziphius differs from all
other ziphiid genera in the mesorostral groove dorsally
closed at the level of the antorbital notches by the joined medial margins of the premaxillary sac fossae, forming
a prominent ridge posteriorly shifted to the left, and separating deeply concave anterior portions of the premaxillary
sac fossae.
It also differs from the other ziphiine genera in the maxilla covered at the rostrum base with prominent excrescencies.
Moreover it differs from Ziphius and Izikoziphius in the medial fusion of the premaxillae dorsally closing the mesorostral groove; from Globicetus n. gen., Imocetus n. gen., and Tusciziphius in lacking an extremely ossified trapezoidal vertex with the anterior part of the nasals contacting the premaxillary crests; from Imocetus n. gen. in lacking a wide facial depression, a rostral maxillary spur-shaped crest, and in the location of the premaxillary foramen (not posterior to the level of the antorbital notch); from Globicetus n. gen. in lacking a large spherical medial premaxillary prominence at the rostrum base; from the possible ziphiine Caviziphius in shallower premaxillary sac fossae and in the more slender and lower right premaxillary crest.
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
Diet 2: carnivoref
Reproduction: viviparoussubo
Created: 2005-06-08 10:11:10
Modified: 2005-06-08 12:11:10
Source: f = family, subo = suborder, o = order
References: Uhen 2004, Nowak 1991

Age range: base of the Serravallian to the top of the Gelasian or 13.82000 to 1.80600 Ma

Collections (16 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Miocene23.03 - 5.333USA (South Carolina) Proroziphius macrops (18506)
Miocene - Pliocene23.03 - 2.588Netherlands C. planirostris (53929)
Middle Miocene15.97 - 11.608Belgium (Temse) C. planirostris (67025)
Middle Miocene15.97 - 11.608Belgium (Antwerpen) C. planirostris (67015)
Serravallian - Tortonian13.82 - 7.246Belgium (Antwerpen) Ziphius planirostris (232082)
Late/Upper Miocene11.608 - 5.333Netherlands C. planirostris (53889)
Late/Upper Miocene11.608 - 5.333North Atlantic C. planirostris (208996)
Late/Upper Miocene - Late/Upper Pliocene11.608 - 2.588Belgium (Antwerpen) Ziphius cuvieri (47465)
Messinian - Zanclean7.246 - 3.6Spain C. leidyi (141838)
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6USA (South Carolina) C. trachops, C. liops (123227) Proroziphius chonops (123226)
Zanclean5.333 - 3.6Netherlands (Noord-Brabant) C. sp. (89447)
Pliocene5.333 - 2.588France (Rodano) Ziphius planirostris (54102)
Pliocene5.333 - 2.588Belgium (Oost-Vlaanderen) C. planirostris (57138)
Piacenzian3.6 - 2.588United Kingdom (England) Ziphius planus (85153)
Gelasian2.588 - 1.806United Kingdom (England) C. planirostris, C. planus, C. packardi (48093)