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Cetotheriidae
Cetotheriidae is a family of baleen whales (parvorder Mysticeti). The family is known to have existed from the Late Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene before going extinct. Although some phylogenetic studies conducted by recovered the living pygmy right whale as a member of Cetotheriidae, making the pygmy right whale the only living cetotheriid, other authors either dispute this placement or recover Neobalaenidae as a sister group to Cetotheriidae. Taxonomy After its description by Brant in 1872, Cetotheriidae was used as a wastebasket taxon for baleen whales which were not assignable to extant whale families. Comparing the cranial and mandibular morphology of 23 taxa (including late archaeocetes and both fossil and extant mysticetes), found Cetotheriidae in this traditional sense to be polyphyletic. Based on ten cranial characters, they also concluded that of the twelve included fossil baleen-bearing mysticetes, six formed a monophyletic group, Cetotheriidae ''sensu stricto' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baleen Whale
Baleen whales (systematic name Mysticeti), also known as whalebone whales, are a parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals of the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) which use keratinaceous baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve planktonic creatures from the water. Mysticeti comprises the families Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales), Balaenopteridae (rorquals and the gray whale), and Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale). There are currently 16 species of baleen whales. While cetaceans were historically thought to have descended from mesonychids, molecular evidence instead supports them as a clade of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoceti) around 34 million years ago. Baleen whales range in size from the and pygmy right whale to the and blue whale, the largest known animal to have ever existed. They are sexually dimorphic. Baleen whales can have streamlined or large bodies, depending on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mysticeti
Baleen whales (systematic name Mysticeti), also known as whalebone whales, are a parvorder of carnivorous marine mammals of the infraorder Cetacea (whales, dolphins and porpoises) which use keratinaceous baleen plates (or "whalebone") in their mouths to sieve planktonic creatures from the water. Mysticeti comprises the families Balaenidae (right and bowhead whales), Balaenopteridae (rorquals and the gray whale), and Cetotheriidae (the pygmy right whale). There are currently 16 species of baleen whales. While cetaceans were historically thought to have descended from mesonychids, molecular evidence instead supports them as a clade of even-toed ungulates (Artiodactyla). Baleen whales split from toothed whales (Odontoceti) around 34 million years ago. Baleen whales range in size from the and pygmy right whale to the and blue whale, the largest known animal to have ever existed. They are sexually dimorphic. Baleen whales can have streamlined or large bodies, depending on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cetotherium
''Cetotherium'' ("whale beast") is an extinct genus of baleen whales from the family Cetotheriidae. Taxonomy The family Cetotheriidae and the genus ''Cetotherium'' (sensu lato) have been used as wastebaskets for all kinds of baleen whales, most notably by , Spassky (1954) and . Based on more recent phylogenetic studies and revisions of many 19th century genera, much smaller monophyletic Cetotheriidae and ''Cetotherium'' sensu stricto is limited to a single or only a few species. For example, included only ''C. rathkii'' and ''C. riabinini'' in the genus and only ten genera in the family. Cetotheriidae were thought to have gone extinct during the Pliocene until 2012, when it was hypothesized that the pygmy right whale was the sole surviving species of this family. Formerly assigned to ''Cetotherium'' The following species were originally described as nominal species of ''Cetotherium'' but have been either reassigned to other genera or removed from ''Cetotherium'': * ''Cetot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herpetocetus
''Herpetocetus'' is a genus of cetotheriid mysticete in the subfamily Herpetocetinae. Taxonomy There are four recognized species of ''Herpetocetus'': ''H. scaldiensis'', ''H. transatlanticus'',Whitmore, F.C., and L.G. Barnes. 2008. The Herpetocetinae, a new subfamily of extinct baleen whales (Mammalia, Cetacea, Cetotheriidae). In C.E. Ray, D.J. Bohaska, I.A. Koretsky, L.W. Ward, and L.G. Barnes (eds.). Geology and Paleontology of the Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina, IV. Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication 14:141–180. ''H. bramblei'', and ''H. morrowi''. An additional unnamed species from Japan has been referred to the '' nomen dubium'' '' Mizuhoptera sendaicus'' in the past, but the undiagnostic nature of the holotype of the latter means that it cannot be confidently referred to ''M. sendaicus''. Survival into the Pleistocene A recently discovered specimen of ''Herpetocetus'' from the Lower-Middle Pleistocene (Gelasian) Falor Formation of northern Califo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neobalaenidae
Neobalaenidae is a family of baleen whales (suborder Mysticeti) including the extant pygmy right whale. Although traditionally considered related to balaenids, a recent phylogenetic study by Fordyce and Marx (2013) recovered the living pygmy right whale as a member of Cetotheriidae, making it the only extant cetotheriid, but not all authors agree with this argument. Taxonomy The family Neobalaenidae was long restricted to the pygmy right whale from the Southern Hemisphere due to the unusual skeletal form of the species relative to other extant mysticetes. Until the early 2010s Neobalaenidae was unknown from the fossil record despite a study by Sasaki et al. (2005) placing the divergence date of Neobalaenidae from other living baleen whales at 23 mya. Fordyce and Marx found that the pygmy right whale formed a well-supported clade with Eschrichtiidae and Balaenopteridae based on molecular data, and that, within 'cetotheres', it was most closely related to the herpetocetines ('' H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eucetotherium
''Eucetotherium'' is a genus of cetotheriid mysticete from Miocene (Tortonian The Tortonian is in the geologic time scale an age or stage of the late Miocene that spans the time between 11.608 ± 0.005 Ma and 7.246 ± 0.005 Ma (million years ago). It follows the Serravallian and is followed by the Messinian. The Torto ...) marine deposits in the Russian Caucasus. References Baleen whales Miocene cetaceans Prehistoric cetacean genera Fossil taxa described in 1873 Miocene mammals of Europe {{Paleo-whale-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ciuciulea Davidi
''Ciuciulea'' is a genus of cetotheriid mysticete found in middle Miocene marine deposits in Moldova. Description ''Ciuciulea'' is a dwarf cetotheriid 3–4 meters in length. It comes from the Badenian deposits (13.8-12.7 Ma) of the Central Paratethys, and this is the earliest world record of the family Cetotheriidae. It differs from the other Cetotheriidae in the presence of a narrow occipital shield, which is as long as wide, and a pars cochlearis of the periotic bone bulging out ventral to fenestra rotunda. Primitive characters include the premaxillae forming a transverse line with the posterior ends of nasals and maxillae rather than constricted or overridden by ascending processes of maxillae.Gol'din P. (2018) New Paratethyan dwarf baleen whales mark the origin of cetotheres. PeerJ 6:e5800 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.5800 Biology ''Ciuciulea'' lived in shallow marine waters in present-day Moldova, earlier than true seals '' Pontophoca'', '' Sarmatonectes'', '' Histriopho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brandtocetus
''Brandtocetus'' is a genus of cetotheriid mysticete in the subfamily Cetotheriinae. The type and only species is ''Brandtocetus chongulek'' from the late Miocene (Tortonian) of the Kerch Peninsula in Crimea. ''Brandtocetus chongulek'' was a whale approximately 4–5 m long differing from all Cetotheriidae by having a transversely expanded lateral portion of the squamosal bone ; a rhomboid temporal fossa The temporal fossa is a fossa (shallow depression) on the side of the skull bounded by the temporal lines and terminating below the level of the zygomatic arch. Boundaries * Medial: frontal bone, parietal bone, temporal bone, and sphenoid bon ...; an occipital shield extending anterior to the center of the temporal fossa; and an elongated posterior process of the tympanoperiotic with a proximodistally extended, and distally expanded, distal portion exposed as an oval surface on the posterolateral skull wall. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q21795316 Baleen whales Mioc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nannocetus
''Nannocetus'' is an extinct baleen whale belonging to the family Cetotheriidae. Description ''Nannocetus'' is a diminutive mysticete measuring 13 feet (4 meters) long. It is characterized by the ventral orientation (in posterior view) of the postglenoid process; postglenoid process twisted medially (in ventral view) relative to the anteroposterior axis of the skull; equal projection of the ventral and dorsal lobes of the tympanic than the dorsal lobe; deeper notch separating the two lobes of the tympanic; reniform morphology of the tympanic in ventral view; lip of the tympanic slightly inflated; sub-rectilinear medial edge of the involucrum with a step in its anterior third; anterior process of the petrosal sub-triangular; thin crista transversa of the petrosal; and pars cochlearis hemispherical. Taxonomy and classification The holotype is UCMP 26502. It was collected from the Late Miocene ( Messinian) Towsley Formation of Humphreys, Los Angeles County, California Cali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joumocetus
''Joumocetus'' is a genus of extinct baleen whale in the family Cetotheriidae containing the single species ''Joumocetus shimizui''. The species is known only from a partial skeleton found in Miocene age sediments of Japan. History and classification ''Joumocetus shimizui'' was described from a mostly complete cranium and associated portions of both mandibles, cervical and thoracic vertebrae. The skeleton was recovered from an outcrop of the earliest late Miocene, Serravallian age Haraichi Formation exposed along the Kabura River near Yoshii, Gunma Prefecture, Japan (, paleocoordinates ).. Retrieved October 2013. The Haraichi Formation includes several tuff layers which have been used for dating. The type skeleton was found between the older Baba tuff and the younger Kamikoizawa tuff. Biotite specimens taken from the Baba tuff have yielded an 40argon–39argon date of , while sanidine specimens gave a 40argon–39argon date of . The overlying Kamikoizawa tuff has not been dated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mithridatocetus
''Mithridatocetus'' is a genus of cetotheriid mysticete in the subfamily Cetotheriinae. Known specimens have been found in marine deposits in Crimea, Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ..., and the Russian Caucasus.P. Goldin and D. Startsev. 2016. "A systematic review of cetothere baleen whales (Cetacea, Cetotheriidae) from the Late Miocene of Crimea and Caucasus, with a new genus". ''Papers in Paleontology''. References Baleen whales Prehistoric cetacean genera Miocene cetaceans Miocene mammals of Europe Fossils of Russia Fossil taxa described in 2016 {{paleo-whale-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kurdalagonus
''Kurdalagonus'' is a genus of cetotheriid mysticete in the subfamily Cetotheriinae from the Miocene of the Russian Caucasus. ''"Kurdalagonus" adygeicus'' has been reassigned to ''Mithridatocetus'', while the referral of ''"Cetotherium ''Cetotherium'' ("whale beast") is an extinct genus of baleen whales from the family Cetotheriidae. Taxonomy The family Cetotheriidae and the genus ''Cetotherium'' (sensu lato) have been used as wastebaskets for all kinds of baleen whales, mo ..." maicopicum'' to ''Kurdalagonus'' has been questioned.P. Goldin and D. Startsev. 2016. "A systematic review of cetothere baleen whales (Cetacea, Cetotheriidae) from the Late Miocene of Crimea and Caucasus, with a new genus". ''Papers in Paleontology''. References {{Taxonbar, from=Q28432433 Baleen whales Miocene cetaceans Prehistoric cetacean genera Fossil taxa described in 2012 Miocene mammals of Europe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
