Two inner ear bones, periotic bones, in dorsal and ventral view. They are dark brown and have three lobes: the anterior process, posterior process, and the dome-like pars cochlearis which houses the cochlea

#whalewednesday some rather large inner ear bones (periotics) of dolphins from the Pliocene Purisima Formation at Santa Cruz, CA. These specimens are so much larger than typical specimens that we assigned these to some sort of pilot whale (Globicephalinae). #whaleontology #coastalpaleo