Vanbreenia
Appearance
Vanbreenia | |
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A hypothetical reconstruction of the skull of V. trigonia. | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Suborder: | Whippomorpha |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | †Eurhinodelphinidae |
Genus: | †Vanbreenia Bianucci & Landini, 2002[2] |
Species: | †V. trigonia
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Binomial name | |
†Vanbreenia trigonia Bianucci & Landini, 2002[1]
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Vanbreenia is an extinct genus of toothed whale from the Miocene epoch, containing only the species Vanbreenia trigonia.[1] Its fossils have been found in the Miste area of Winterswijk in the Netherlands.[3]
Etymology
[edit]Vanbreenia was named after Dr. P.J.H. van Bree from the Zoological Museum Amsterdam. Its grammatical gender (in Latin) is feminine.[4]
Description
[edit]V. trigonia is small compared to other odontocete genera, and has a shorter rostrum as well, with a length of 90 millimeters, and a width and height of 95 and 47 millimeters and its base, respectively. Its shorter rostrum likely gave it swimming maneuverability to avoid predators and capture prey.[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Vanbreenia trigonia †". Mindat. Hudson Institute of Mineralogy. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
- ^ Rees, Tony. "Vanbreenia Bianucci & Landini, 2002 †". Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
- ^ "†Vanbreenia Bianucci and Landini 2002 (toothed whale)". Paleobiology Database. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
- ^ a b Bianucci, Giovanni; Landini, Walter (19 December 2002). "A new short-rostrum odontocete (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the middle Miocene of the Eastern Netherlands" (PDF). Beaufortia. 52 (11). Naturalis Biodiversity Center: 187–196. Retrieved 3 July 2025.