PHOCINAE Gray, 1821

Gol’din, Pavel, Haiduc, Bogdan Stelian, Kovalchuk, Oleksandr, Górka, Marcin, Otryazhyi, Pavlo, Brânzilă, Mihai, Păun, Elena Ionela, Barkaszi, Zoltán, Ţibuleac, Paul & Răţoi, Bogdan Gabriel, 2020, The Volhynian (late Middle Miocene) marine fishes and mammals as proxies for the onset of the Eastern Paratethys re-colonisation by vertebrate fauna, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 43) 23 (3), pp. 1-20 : 8-11

Subfamily PHOCINAE Gray, 1821 Phocinae indet. 1

Figure 4

Material and locality. Vertebrae, ribs, scapula, and forelimb bones; Kolubaivtsi.

Specific features of anatomy. The material was identified as a member of the Phocinae by the presence of an epicondylar foramen in the humerus ( Dewaele et al., 2018a). Meanwhile, it shares a high trochlear crest of the humerus with Monachinae ( Koretsky and Grigorescu, 2002; Dewaele et al., 2018b). It is characterised by a smooth distal termination of the long deltopectoral crest reaching the condyle, and a relatively straight posterior margin of the ulna.

Comparison. The specimen has a body size comparable to phocine seals found in later (Bessara-

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bian) deposits of the Eastern Paratethys. It is larger than Monachopsis pontica , and similar in size to Cryptophoca maeotica ( Koretsky, 2001) . The humerus has a well-defined trochlear crest larger than that in most of other Paratethyan phocines. The deltoid crest is as long as that in Sarmatonectes sintsovi ( Koretsky, 2001) .

Phocinae indet. 2

Figure 5A

Material and locality. Scapula bearing the glenoid fossa, and a caudal vertebra; Stăuceni.

Description. A slender neck of the glenoid portion, a high glenoid fossa, and the slenderness of the scapula support the tentative identification of the fragmentary specimen as Phocinae . The glenoid fossa is deep and the glenoid tubercle is high, the angle between the anterior part and the scapular neck is smaller than in many other seals. The scapular neck is short, and the size of the fragment is small, which may indicate that this specimen represents a young individual.

Comparison. The specimen resembles Praepusa sp. from the Sarmatian s.s. of Hungary and Austria ( Koretsky, 2001, 2003) by the structure of glenoid fossa and the anterior edge of the scapula. The glenoid fossa in Pachyphoca chapskii is flatter and the glenoid tubercle is low. This specimen also differs from Nanophoca and Monachopsis by a greater angle between the scapular neck and the anterior edge of the bone.

CETACEA Brisson, 1762 ODONTOCETI Flower, 1867

Family KENTRIODONTIDAE Slijper, 1936

Genus KENTRIODON Kellogg, 1927

Kentriodon fuchsii ( Brandt, 1873)

Figures 5B, 6

Material and locality. Partially preserved periotic bone, lumbar vertebra; Stăuceni, Basarabi, Stâncești.

Remarks and comparison. The periotic bone from Stăuceni ( Figure 6) shares diagnostic features of Kentriodon fuchsii defined by Kazár (2006): medial bending of the anterior process and lateral bending of the posterior process; short posterior process with pentagonal posterior bullar facet; pars cochlearis (as preserved) broadly joined to the body of the periotic; a large ventrolateral tuberosity; a large eminence dorsal to fenestra rotunda. Also, a few more fragments can be tentatively referred to this taxon. They include elongated vertebrae, which were reported from Ghireni and Cordăreni by Macarovici and Zaharia (1967), Ionesi and Galan (1988), and newly found lumbar and caudal vertebrae, matching the original description of Kentriodon fuchsii ( Brandt, 1873) . The ulna reported by Codrea et al. (2014) from Basarabi also corresponds to the original description of Kentriodon fuchsii ( Brandt, 1873) . There are a few issues preventing clear attribution of vertebrae: size variation across the vertebrae; all the specimens are disarticulated and none of them is associated with the periotic bone; Kentriodon fuchsii itself needs redescription and at the end can be split into a few taxa ( Kazár, 2006). Another dwarf kentriodontid of this morphotype but smaller than K. fuchsii is Imerodelphis thabagarii .