Arktocara was later described 65 years after the collection of the skull (labelled as specimen USNM 214830) by Smithsonian paleontologists Alexandra Boersma and Nicholas Pyenson in 2016, being recognized as a new species.

[1][2] Other toothed whales †Microcetus hectori †Waipatia maerewhenua †Otekaikea huata †Otekaikea marplesi †Squalodelphis fabianii †Goedertius oregonensis †Zarhinocetus errabundus †Allodelphis pratti †Arktocara yakataga †Notocetus vanbenedeni †Phocageneus venustus Platanista gangetica (South Asian river dolphin) †Pomatodelphis inaequalis †Zarhachis flagellator Blue = Allodelphinidae Arktocara was a river dolphin of the superfamily Platanistoidea, and the extinct family Allodelphinidae.

The sole surviving member of Platanistoidea is the South Asian river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) which inhabits the tropics, making it its closest living relative.

Of the characteristics it shared with other platanistoids was a cylindrical projection of the periotic bone in the ear, deeply grooved rostral sutures on the beak, the widening of the cranium, a depression on the roof of the orbit in the eye socket, a smaller exposed palatine bone in the roof of the mouth, an elongated and convex spine in the tympanic bulla of the ear, single rooted back-teeth, and more than 25 teeth.

Also contrary to other platanistoids, Arktocara lacked the thin plate which extended from the hard palate in the roof of the mouth and attached to the greater wing of sphenoid bone in the ear.

The groove for the mandibular branch nerve wrapped around the sides of the pterygoid fossa, which is located behind the eyes laterally on the sphenoid bone.

Its lifestyle and diet is speculated to have been similar to the modern-day Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli),[4] which is an opportunistic twilight-to-surface predator of soft-bodied fish and squid.

[5] Paleontologists Ewan Fordyce and Christian de Muizon speculated in 2001 that, since the modern-day platanistoid, the South Asian river dolphin, inhabits the rivers, ancient platanistoids, such as Arktocara, faced some competition from other dolphins of the superfamily Delphinoidea, and were eventually outcompeted in marine environments.