A late Oligocene waipatiid dolphin (Odontoceti: Waipatiidae) from Victoria, Australia

A partial odontocete skeleton comprising isolated teeth, forelimb elements, ribs, and vertebrae is described from the upper Oligocene (Chattian) Jan Juc Marl of Jan Juc, Victoria, southeast Australia. Its dental and forelimb characters most closely resemble those of the late Oligocene Waipatia and Sulakocetus from New Zealand and the Caucasus, respectively; thus the Jan Juc odontocete is referred to an indeterminate species in the family Waipatiidae (Platanistoidea). This specimen represents the first report of Waipatiidae in Australia, expands the taxonomic diversity of Australian Oligocene Cetacea, and shows that Waipatiidae occurred in the Chattian cetacean assemblages of both Australia and New Zealand.