First cetacean fossil records from Ecuador, collected from the miocene of Esmeraldas province

Cetacean fossils from Ecuador are reported for the first time on the basis of fragmentary remains referred to odontocetes, collected during our investigations of Neogene stratigraphic sequences outcropping along the northern coast (Esmeraldas Province). One specimen was collected near Las Penas village in the Lower-Middle Miocene sediments of the Viche Formation and consists of ear bones and mandibular fragments for sure belonging to Ziphiidae. It represents the oldest record of this family in the southeastern Pacific and one of the few records of this family in South America. The other fossil was collected near Rio Verde village in the Upper Miocene sediments of the Angostura Formation and consists of an isolated tooth exhibiting some ziphiid affinities.