Waipatia Temporal range: Late Oligocene |
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The fish Megalampris (above) and W. maerewhenua (below) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
(unranked): | Platanistida |
Superfamily: | Platanistoidea (?) |
Family: |
†Waipatiidae Fordyce, 1994 |
Genus: |
†Waipatia Fordyce, 1994 |
Species | |
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Synonyms | |
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Waipatia is an extinct genus of whale from the late Oligocene (Chattian) of New Zealand.
The type species, Waipatia maerewhenua is known from a single skull found near 45° South in Otago . The second species, W. hectori, was originally named Microcetus hectori in 1935, but later recognized as distinct from Microcetus."Uncamentodon" was informally coined for M. hectori in a table by Rothausen in a 1970 paper, but the lack of a diagnosis or description made it a nomen nudum. Finally in 2015, M. hectori was recognized as a second species of Waipatia based on preparation of additional material included in the holotype.