Pliopontos fossil map
Where fossils of Pliopontos have been found, shown on the Earth as it looked about 5 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 5 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 | 11.63–3.6 million years ago (Tortonian to Zanclean) |
| Periods | Neogene |
| Family | Pontoporiidae |
| Named by | Muizon 1983 |
| Fossil records | 12 occurrences at 6 locations (PBDB) |
| Found in | Chile, Peru, United States |
| Rock formations | Coquimbo, Bahía Inglesa, Pisco, Yorktown |
About Pliopontos
Pliopontos is a genus of river dolphins that lived during the Miocene-Pliocene epochs in what are now the coasts of Chile and Peru. It contains a single species, Pliopontos littoralis, described in 1983 and known from the highly fossiliferous Pisco Formation. Additional remains attributable to the genus have been found in the Bahía Inglesa Formation and Coquimbo Formation.
Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Pliopontos (revision 1255785741), 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: Q121221998.
