Paleoparadoxia
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| Paleoparadoxia tabatai Tokunaga, 1939 |
Paleoparadoxia[1] is a genus of large, herbivorous marine mammals that inhabited the northern Pacific coastal region during the Miocene epoch (20 to 10 million years ago). It ranged from the waters of Japan (Tsuyama and Yanagawa), to Alaska to the north, and down to Baja California, Mexico. It is believed there are only two complete fossil skeletons in the world, one at Fukushima Museum in Fukushima Prefecture Japan and one at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in Northern California.
Paleoparadoxia is thought to have fed primarily on seaweeds and sea grasses. The jaws and the angle of the teeth resemble a backhoe bucket. Its bulky body was well adapted for swimming and underwater foraging, but not for extended deep-sea living or deep diving. Like the modern-day seal, Paleoparadoxia probably came on shore for breeding and basking in the sun.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Paleoparadoxia connotes "ancient puzzle".
[edit] External links
- Stanford's SLAC Paleoparadoxia, identified by Charles_Repenning (much thanks to Adele Panofsky, Dr. Wolfgang Panofsky's wife for her assembly of the bones of the Paleoparadoxia found and uncovered at SLAC)
- More uncovering at SLAC, and Adele Panofsky
- Picture of Paleoparadoxia
- Another picture
