Problematic archaic whale Phococetus (Cetacea: Odontoceti) from the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, USA, with comments on geochronology of the Pungo River Formation

Heterodont cetaceans are abundant in Eocene, Oligocene, and early to middle Miocene deposits worldwide. Taxonomic practice in the 19th and early 20th centuries led to the establishment of a multitude of names based on isolated teeth. Some of these taxa, such as Phococetus vasconum from the lower Miocene (Burdigalian) of France, have been alternatively interpreted as archaeocetes, odontocetes, and mysticetes. Isolated teeth resembling Phococetus vasconum from the Pungo River Formation in the Lee Creek Mine (Beaufort County, North Carolina, USA) also share features with the enigmatic early Miocene odontocete Inticetus vertizi, suggesting that Phococetus may represent a large heterodont odontocete.