Notocetus

Notocetus is an extinct genus of river dolphin belonging to Squalodelphinidae. Known specimens have been found in Early Miocene marine deposits from Argentina, Italy and Peru.

Taxonomy

Notocetus was unnecessarily given the replacement name Diochoticus by Ameghino on the false assumption that Notocetus was preoccupied by Notiocetus. Lydekker, meanwhile, erected Argyrodelphis for the same specimen. The type species of Otekaikea was once considered a species of Notocetus before being recognized as belonging to Waipatiidae.

Distribution

Fossils of Notocetus have been found in:

Palaeobiology

Palaeoecology

Paired analysis of the ultrastructure of its enamel, which was thin in the anterior teeth and thick in the posterior teeth, and its skull morphology suggests that N. vanbenedeni was a suction feeder.