#kogiopsis floridana

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Primitive Toothed Whales

This is a recreation of Kogiopsis floridana, a toothed whale that lived in the Miocene - Pliocene (12.5-2.5 mya) in what is now Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Little is known for sure about this cetacean species, as most of the data come from mandibles. Kogiopsis had very long teeth, 3–12.7 centimetres (1.2–5.0 in) long, without root. It was likely that this whale preyed upon animals such as squid, and perhaps pinnipeds.

The merit of identifying a new genus apart from the known Kogia genus was pointed out carefully by R. Kellogg in 1929: 

Kogiopsis, new genus

DIAGNOSIS.-Skull unknown. Mandible incomplete, but symphysis estimated to comprise one-third of its length. In general conformation similar to corresponding portions of mandibles of Kogia, but differs in having broader symphysis, six instead of eight teeth on symphysial portion of ramus, alveoli not extending over so far on lateral surface of ramus, and in addition is much larger. Rami firmly ankylosed in region of symphysis; dorsal surface of symphysis rather broad and flat; lateral surfaces of rami slope to mid-line of ventral face of symphysis. Large alveoli located on upper outer edge or angle of mandible. Ten teeth in each mandible, of which six are lodged in symphysis. Teeth long (3 to 4 inches in length), somewhat curved, with small crowns, without distinct neck, and rather closely spaced. Outer surface of cement wrinkled and ornamented with coarse longitudinal grooves. Outer surface of internal cone of dentine encircled by fine ridges.

 Kogiopsis floridana, new species

Not everyone is as convinced,

“We don't really know what Kogiopsis is, if it's a kogiid, physeterid, or stem physeteroid; further, all we have is a mandible with some teeth, so we don't know what it looked like externally.” - Boesse

The closest living relative is Kogia breviceps, also known as the pygmy sperm whale. 

#who knows what it really looked like #kogiopsis floridana #kogia breviceps #miocene #fauna #cetacean #north america

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Kogiopsis floridana was a physeteroid whale that lived near the coast of the southeastern United States from the mid-Miocene to the early Pliocene, about 14-4 million years ago.

Known just from fossilized lower jaws and teeth, with some teeth up to nearly 13cm long (~5"), its full life appearance and size are uncertain – but it may have been slightly larger than a modern bottlenose dolphin at around 4.5m long (~14'9"). It's traditionally been considered to be part of the kogiid family, closely related to modern pygmy and dwarf sperm whales, but some studies disagree with that classification and instead place it in the true sperm whale lineage.

It was probably a predator in a similar ecological role to modern orcas, adapted for hunting prey like squid, fish, and smaller marine mammals. But unlike orcas it wouldn't have been the apex predator of its ecosystem, subject to predation pressure by even larger carnivores like macroraptorial sperm whales and everyone's favorite ridiculously huge shark – and as a result it probably had a "live fast and die young" lifestyle similar to modern kogiids and other small-to-medium-sized Miocene physeteroids, rapidly maturing and only living to around 20 years old.

I've reconstructed Kogiopsis here as a kogiid-like animal, with a similar sort of shark-like head shape and "false gill" markings. In the background a second individual is depicted displaying "inking" behavior, releasing a defensive cloud of reddish-brown fluid from a specialized sac in its colon.

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#science illustration #paleontology #paleoart #palaeoblr #kogiopsis #kogiidae #maybe #physeteroidea #odontoceti #toothed whale #cetacean #whale #whippomorpha #artiodactyla #ungulate #mammal #art #speculative behavior #inking #convergent evolution

[kogiopsis]

@squirenonny tagged me in a ‘Get to Know Me Better’ meme, so... yeah, here’s that thing!

Rule: Tag 9 people you want to get to know better  (hahahaha jk I won’t)

NICKNAMES: Lisa’s a nickname for my legal name; also answerable to Kogi and occasionally to Feef.

ZODIAC SIGN: Virgo

HEIGHT: 5′8″ or thereabouts?

LAST THING GOOGLED: "Cinemark showtimes”; Megan and I are trying to find a time we can go see Wonder Woman.

FAVORITE MUSIC ARTIST: ????  listen, I am Bad At Favorites.  I just... enjoy many things at different times.

SONG STUCK IN YOUR HEAD: Nothing right now, as I’m listening to a fanmix, but last night it was ‘He’s a Pirate’ from the first POTC movie.

LAST MOVIE WATCHED: Pirates of the Carribean:  Curse of the Black Pearl

WHAT ARE YOU WEARING RIGHT NOW: Amestris Military Alchemist Academy t-shirt, brown knee-length... capris?  I’m really not sure what the term for them is, but they’re soft and comfy so here I am.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE YOUR URL: I wanted a single-word URL so I could actually track my tag, and I wanted it to be whale-related, and Kogiopsis floridana is a species of extinct dwarf sperm whale that had a cool sounding genus and was esoteric enough not to cause conflicting searches.

DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER BLOGS: A crapton of saved URLs, but the only one that’s really a blog per se is @kogireviews, which is where I crosspost book reviews.

WHAT DID YOUR LAST RELATIONSHIP TEACH YOU: I mean, I don’t have a last relationship, but dating Megan has taught me that while kissing is Nice it also makes Strange Noises and I’m really glad that this is something we can both laugh at or I would feel like a jerk.

RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL: Of the two I’d say spiritual, but... in a very naturalistic way?  

FAVORITE COLOR: Pretty much any shade of blue.

AVERAGE HOURS OF SLEEP: I’m happiest with like... 8-9, but I don’t think I actually average that because my work hours fuck with my sleep schedule.

LUCKY NUMBER: I don’t have a lucky number, but I find multiples of 5 satisfying, I guess.

FAVORITE CHARACTERS: don’t do this to me.  There are SO MANY and I honestly don’t know where to start so I’m gonna just... sorta skip this one.

HOW MANY BLANKETS YOU SLEEP WITH: A comforter, a sheet, a cotton blanket that I push to the side if it’s warm, and sometimes a fleece blanket on top if it’s cold.

DREAM JOB: Basically I want someone to pay me to look at whales, be excited about whales, and tell politicians to stop fucking up the environment.

LIPSTICK OR CHAPSTICK: Both, contextually.  Plus you’re supposed to always apply chapstick before lipstick anyway, so.

LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO: ‘Below My Feet’ by Mumford and Sons, on a Jupiter Ascending fanmix.

TOP THREE SHOWS: The West Wing, Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine, FMA Brotherhood.

#meme thingummies #there u go I guess