A fragmentary odontocete cranium from the lower miocene of venezuela

Near-shore marine sediments from the early Miocene Castillo Formation have yielded a fragmentary cranium of a small odontocete. The specimen has an elongate, narrow rostrum and an asymmetrical narial region with a deeply excavated, supraorbital process. The specimen also has well-developed lambdoid crests that protrude prominently from the posterior aspect of the skull. The supraorbital process is more deeply excavated than in other Miocene platanistoid odontocetes such as Notocetus vanbenedini. On the basis of these characters the specimen is tentatively assigned to the Platanistoidea. This is only the third cetacean reported from this Venezuelan locality.