Platalearostrum fossil map
Where fossils of Platalearostrum have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 0 million years ago and on today’s map.
Dots are fossil collections recorded in the Paleobiology Database. The “then” view moves today’s fossil sites back to their positions 0 million years ago (the time slice nearest the median age of the fossils) using the Merdith et al. (2021) plate model; positions are approximate. Open on the timeline map →
| Group | Early mammals |
|---|---|
| Lived | 3.6–0.774 million years ago (Piacenzian to Calabrian) |
| Periods | Neogene, Quaternary |
| Family | Delphinidae |
| Named by | Post and Kompanje 2010 |
| Fossil records | 2 occurrences at 1 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Netherlands |
| Rock formations | txn:42953 |
About Platalearostrum
The blunt-snouted dolphin (Platalearostrum hoekmani, "Albert Hoekman's spoon-rostrum") is a prehistoric pilot whale known from a single specimen (NMR-9991-00005362), consisting of a partial rostrum, partial maxilla, partial premaxilla, and partial vomer. The fossil was discovered by Albert Hoekman on board a fishing trawler in the North Sea in 2008 and described in 2010 by Klaas Post and Erwin J.O. Kompanje. The blunt-snouted dolphin is believed to have had a balloonlike structure atop its rostrum and is estimated to have lived during the middle Pliocene to early Pleistocene.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Blunt-snouted dolphin (revision 1324640941), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; introduction excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Ages, family, authority and fossil records: Paleobiology Database, accessed 23 October 2026. Ages are those of the rock layers the fossils were found in. Wikidata: Q1854664.
