Beneziphius Lambert, 2005

Miján, Ismael, Louwye, Stephen & Lambert, Olivier, 2017, A new Beneziphius beaked whale from the ocean floor off Galicia, Spain and biostratigraphic reassessment of the type species, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 62 (1), pp. 211-220 : 212

Genus Beneziphius Lambert, 2005

Type species: Beneziphius brevirostris Lambert, 2005 ; from the Antwerp area ( Belgium, southern margin of the North Sea Basin), early to mid-Serravallian ( Lambert 2005; this study).

Species included: Type species and Beneziphius cetariensis sp. nov.

Emended diagnosis.— Beneziphius differs from all other members of the family in the following unique combination of characters: ankylosed thickened premaxillae dorsally roofing the mesorostral groove for most of its length (as in Choneziphius , Messapicetus , Ziphirostrum , and other members of the “ Messapicetus clade” sensu Bianucci et al. 2016); presence of a moderately excavated prenarial basin; presence of a medial gap between premaxillary sac fossae; right premaxillary sac fossa barely transversely concave (the three latter characters being major differences with Choneziphius ); dorsal surface of the maxillae lateral to the prenarial basin covered by excrescences (as in Choneziphius ); premaxillary crests on the vertex being anterolaterally directed (as in Ziphiinae sensu Bianucci et al. 2016 and members of the “ Messapicetus clade”); nasals being not anteriorly longer than the premaxillary crests (differing from Ziphiinae ); and nasals lacking an anteromedial excavation (differing from Hyperoodontinae sensu Bianucci et al. 2016 ).