FIRST RECORD OF FOSSIL CYSTOPHORINAE (CARNIVORA, PHOCIDAE): MIDDLE MIOCENE SEALS FROM THE NORTHERN PARATETHYS
Journal: Riviste UNIMI (Università degli studi di Milano)
Year: 2015

Despite a long history of phocid studies, no fossil members of the Subfamily Cystophorinae have ever been described. New fossil material from the Middle Sarmatian (11.2-12.3 Ma) in the Paratethyan Basin of Ukraine allows emended diagnoses and redescriptions to help clarify phylogenetic relationships within the Family Phocidae. After cladistic and morphological analyses of the material, a new genus ( Pachyphoca ) was erected, with two new species of extinct fossil true seals ( Pachyphoca ukrainic