PBDB Taxon

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

Callophoca

Mammalia - Carnivora - Phocidae

Taxonomy

Callophoca was named by Van Beneden (1876) [Sepkoski's age data: T Plio].

It was reranked as Phoca (Callophoca) by Trouessart (1898) and Friant (1947); it was considered a nomen dubium by Berta et al. (2015).

It was assigned to Phocinae by Trouessart (1904); to Phoca by Trouessart (1898) and Friant (1947); to Phocidae by Palmer (1904), Kellogg (1922) and Carroll (1988); to Monachina by McKenna and Bell (1997); to Carnivora by Sepkoski (2002); to Monachini by Koretsky (2001), Koretsky and Grigorescu (2002) and Koretsky and Barnes (2008); to Miroungini by Muizon (1981), Fulton and Strobeck (2010) and Amson and Muizon (2013); and to Monachinae by Berta (2002), Koretsky and Holec (2002), Deméré et al. (2003), Koretsky and Ray (2008), Berta (2009), Berta (2017), Dewaele et al. (2018), Berta (2018), Berta et al. (2018) and Albright et al. (2019).

Species

C. obscura (syn. Mesotaria ambigua)

Synonyms

Mesotaria ambigua was named by Van Beneden (1876) [no type specimen listed by Van Beneden (1876). IRSNB 1156, Ct. M. 177 is the lectotype (Koretsky & Ray, 2008).]. Its type specimen is IRSNB 1156, Ct. M. 177, a limb element (left humerus), and it is not a trace fossil. Its type locality is Wommelgem, which is in a Pliocene marine sandstone in Belgium.

It was recombined as Callophoca ambigua by Ray (1976) and Ray (1977); it was synonymized subjectively with Callophoca obscura by Koretsky (2001) and Dewaele et al. (2018); it was considered a nomen dubium by True (1909); it was considered a nomen dubium by Berta et al. (2015) and Rule et al. (2020).
Callophoca obscura was named by Van Beneden (1876) [No type specimen listed by Van Beneden (1876). IRSNB 1198, Ct. M. 203 is the lectotype (Koretsky & Ray, 2008).]. Its type specimen is IRSNB 1198, Ct. M. 203, a limb element (right humerus), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Sable Superieur d'Anvers, which is in a Zanclean offshore shelf sandstone in the Kattendijk Formation of Belgium.

It was recombined as Phoca (Callophoca) obscura by Trouessart (1898) and Friant (1947); it was considered a nomen dubium by Berta et al. (2015); it was considered a nomen dubium by Rule et al. (2020).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1874	Callophoca obscura Vanden Broeck p. 199
1874	Mesotaria ambigua Vanden Broeck p. 199
1876	Mesotaria ambigua Van Beneden p. 796
1876	Callophoca Van Beneden p. 798
1876	Callophoca obscura Van Beneden p. 798
1877	Mesotaria ambigua Van Beneden
1898	Mesotaria ambigua Trouessart p. 377
1898	Phoca (Callophoca) Trouessart p. 388
1898	Phoca (Callophoca) obscura Trouessart p. 388
1904	Callophoca Palmer p. 153
1904	Mesotaria ambigua Trouessart p. 282
1904	Callophoca Trouessart p. 287
1904	Callophoca obscura Trouessart p. 287
1922	Mesotaria ambigua Kellogg p. 109
1922	Callophoca Kellogg p. 123
1922	Callophoca obscura Kellogg p. 124
1947	Mesotaria ambigua Friant p. 5
1947	Phoca (Callophoca) Friant p. 7
1947	Phoca (Callophoca) obscura Friant p. 7
1976	Callophoca ambigua Ray p. 394
1976	Callophoca obscura Ray p. 394
1977	Callophoca ambigua Ray p. 394
1981	Callophoca Muizon p. 135
1988	Callophoca Carroll
1997	Callophoca McKenna and Bell p. 259
2001	Callophoca Koretsky p. 86
2001	Callophoca obscura Koretsky p. 86
2002	Callophoca Berta p. 923
2002	Callophoca Koretsky and Grigorescu p. 151
2002	Callophoca Koretsky and Holec p. 175
2002	Callophoca Sepkoski
2003	Callophoca Deméré et al. p. 49 figs. Fig. 3.3
2003	Callophoca obscura Deméré et al. p. 49 figs. Fig. 3.3
2008	Callophoca Koretsky and Barnes p. 550
2008	Callophoca obscura Koretsky and Barnes p. 551
2008	Callophoca Koretsky and Ray p. 94
2008	Callophoca obscura Koretsky and Ray p. 97
2008	Mesotaria ambigua Koretsky and Ray p. 98
2009	Callophoca Berta p. 863
2010	Callophoca Fulton and Strobeck p. 817 figs. Figure 1
2013	Callophoca Amson and Muizon
2016	Callophoca obscura Boessenecker and Churchill p. 1
2017	Callophoca Berta p. 157
2017	Callophoca obscura Rahmat et al. p. 224
2018	Callophoca Berta p. 715 figs. Fig. 3C
2018	Callophoca Berta et al. p. 210 figs. Fig. 2
2018	Callophoca obscura Berta et al. p. 210 figs. Fig. 4
2018	Callophoca Dewaele et al. p. 7
2018	Callophoca obscura Dewaele et al. p. 7
2019	Callophoca Albright et al. p. 179
2019	Callophoca obscura Albright et al. p. 179
2022	Callophoca obscura Berta et al. p. 6 figs. Table 1.1

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	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
class	Mammalia
—	Theriamorpha	(Rowe 1993)
—	Theriiformes	()

Rank	Name	Author
—	Trechnotheria
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Ferae	()
—	Carnivoramorpha	Wyss and Flynn 1993
—	Carnivoraformes	Flynn et al.
order	Carnivora
suborder	Caniformia	Kretzoi 1943
infraorder	Canoidea	(Simpson 1931)
superfamily	Arctoidea	Flower 1869
—	Panpinnipedia	Wolsan et al. 2020
—	Pinnipedimorpha
—	Pinnipedia	()
superfamily	Phocoidea	Smirnov 1908
family	Phocidae	()
subfamily	Monachinae
genus	Callophoca

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. †Callophoca Van Beneden 1876

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Invalid names: Callophoca obscura Van Beneden 1876 [nomen dubium]

Diagnosis

No diagnoses are available

Measurements

No measurements are available

Composition:

hydroxyapatiteuc

Ontogeny:

modification of partsuc

Environment:

marineuc

Locomotion:

actively mobilec

Life habit:

amphibiousuc

Diet:

piscivoref

Diet 2:

carnivoref

Reproduction:

viviparousuc

Created:

2005-06-08 10:11:09

Modified:

2005-06-08 12:11:09

Source: f = family, c = class, uc = unranked clade

References: Gingerich 2003, Carreño and Cronin 1993, Hendy et al. 2009, Nowak 1991

Age range: base of the Serravallian to the top of the Piacenzian or 13.82000 to 2.58800 Ma

Collections (14 total)

Time interval	Ma	Country or state	Original ID and collection number
Serravallian	13.82 - 11.62	USA (Virginia)	C. obscura (126605)
Tortonian	11.62 - 7.246	USA (Massachusetts)	C. obscura (193358)
Hemphillian	10.3 - 4.9	USA (Florida)	C. obscura (18502)
Late/Upper Hemphillian	10.3 - 4.9	USA (Florida)	C. obscura (18532 45478)
Late/Upper Hemphillian - Zanclean	10.3 - 3.6	USA (Florida)	C. obscura (18535)
Messinian	7.246 - 5.333	USA (Virginia)	C. obscura (179732)
Early/Lower Pliocene	5.333 - 3.6	USA (South Carolina)	C. obscura (79743)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	USA (North Carolina)	C. ambigua, C. obscura (52582) C. obscura (77585)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	Belgium (Antwerpen)	C. ambigua, C. obscura (57701)
Zanclean	5.333 - 3.6	USA (Florida)	C. obscura (154720)
Pliocene	5.333 - 2.588	Belgium (Antwerpen)	Mesotaria ambigua (67029)
Piacenzian	3.6 - 2.588	USA (Florida)	C. obscura (22712)