Gryphoca Van Beneden, 1877

Koretsky, I., Rahmat, S. & Peters, N., 2014, Rare Late Miocene Seal Taxa (Carnivora, Phocidae) From The North Sea Basin, Vestnik Zoologii 48 (5), pp. 419-432 : 423-424

Genus Gryphoca Van Beneden, 1877

1876 a Gryphoca — Van Beneden: 798 (nom. nud.); *1877 Gryphoca Van Beneden : 69, atlas pl. 13; 1897 Gryphoca — Toula: 52, 55; 1897 Halichoerus (Gryphoca) : Trouessart, p. 382; 1909 Gryphoca — Dollo: 118; 1922 Gryphoca — Kellogg: 115; 1945 Gryphoca — Simpson: 122; 1947 Halichoerus (Gryphoca) : Friant, p. 6; 1958 Gryphoca — Misonne: 22; 1964 Gryphoca — King: 131; 1977 Gryphoca — Ray: 394; 1983 Gryphoca — Savage, Russell: 294; 1992 Gryphoca — Muizon: 36; 1997 Gryphoca — McKenna, Bell: 258; 2008 Gryphoca — Koretsky, Ray: 89–90.

T y p e s p e c i e s a n d l o c a l i t y: Gryphoca similis Van Beneden, 1877 , holotype from the 3rd section of Borgerhout , Antwerp area, Belgium.

S t r a t i g r a p h i c a l r a n g e. Apart from the type locality of Gryphoca similis , the genus Gryphoca is known from the Pliocene (Scaldisian) of the Antwerp area, Belgium, from the late Miocene (early-middle Tortonian, 8.0–11.5 ma) Gram Formation of Gram, Jutland, western Denmark, from the late Miocene or early Pliocene of Mill-Langenboom, The Netherlands, and from the Pliocene (5.0–5.8 ma) Yorktown Formation, eastern United States.

R e f e r r e d m a t e r i a l. Humeri, scapula, innominate, femora, tibia and fibula from the Antwerp area, Belgium, from western Denmark, from Mill-Langenboom, The Netherlands, and from the eastern United States ( Koretsky, Ray, 2008).

E m e n d e d d i a g n o s i s. Phocine of medium size similar to modern Halichoerus grypus . Deltoid crest of humerus short, narrow, and thin, terminating about 1/2 length of bone; its distal end gently broadening and somewhat overhanging the bone; lesser tubercle located slightly above head and proximal part of deltoid crest; intertubercular groove narrow and deep; medial epicondyle reaches distal end of deltoid crest; entepicondylar foramen present. Femoral greater trochanter higher than head; minimal width of shaft located in middle part of femur; epicondyles very thin

D i s c u s s i o n. The rare taxon Gryphoca similis is represented in Van Beneden’s collection only by a few fragmentary bones: humeri and femora, scapula, innominate, tibia and fibula. All bones show very distinctive morphological features and the same applies to the material from the eastern United States ( Koretsky, Ray, 2008). Although the morphologies of the fossils from Western Denmark and The Netherlands described in this paper are very similar, the bones also differ in several aspects. Nonetheless, we are sure about the assignment of these new fossils to a new species of the genus Gryphoca .