Cotylocara

Cotylocara Temporal range: Late Oligocene, 28.4–23.0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Life restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	†Xenorophidae
Genus:	†Cotylocara Geisler et al., 2014
Species:	†C. macei
Binomial name
†Cotylocara macei Geisler et al., 2014 (type)

Cotylocara is a genus of primitive odontocete from late Oligocene (Chattian) marine deposits of the Chandler Bridge Formation of South Carolina. It belongs to the Xenorophidae.

Paleobiology

Cotylocara was capable of echolocation like modern dolphins, as evidenced by its dense, thick and downturned rostrum, air sac fossae, cranial asymmetry, and exceptionally broad maxillae.^[1]

Cotylocara anterolateral at Mace Brown Museum of Natural History

References

1. Jonathan H. Geisler, Matthew W. Colbert, James L. Carew., 2014: A new fossil species supports an early origin for toothed whale echolocation. Nature. doi:10.1038/nature13086