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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'': * ''Ceto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cetotherium Riabinini Skull
''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 wastebasket taxon, 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 ''Cetothe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cetotherium BW
''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'': * ''Ceto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eschrichtioides
''Eschrichtioides'' is an extinct genus of baleen whale known from the early Pliocene of northern Italy. Its type species, ''E. gastaldii'', had a complex taxonomic history, starting as a cetothere, then as an extinct member of ''Balaenoptera'', before being finally recognized as a relative of the gray whale. Distribution ''Eschrichtioides'' is one of two ''Eschrichtius'' relatives known from the Neogene of Italy, the other being '' Archaeschrichtius''. Its holotype, MRSN 13802, comes from the early Pliocene-age Sabbie d'Asti Formation of the Piedmont region in Italy. Classification Like other cetaceans from the Italian Pliocene, the classification of ''Eschrichtioides'' was highly contentious. described several species of '' Cetotherium'' from the Pliocene of northern Italy, including ''C. cortesi'' based on a specimen (MSRN 13802) found by Italian geologist Giuseppe Cortesi in 1816 near the town Cortandone (: paleocoordinates ) described how he, after a day of sea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eschrichtiidae
Eschrichtiidae or the gray whales is a family of baleen whale (Parvorder Mysticeti) with a single extant species, the gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), as well as three described fossil genera: '' Archaeschrichtius'' and '' Eschrichtioides'' from the Miocene and Pliocene of Italy respectively, and '' Gricetoides'' from the Pliocene of North Carolina. More recent phylogenetic studies have found this family to be invalid, with its members nesting inside the Balaenopteridae. The names of the extant genus and the family honours Danish zoologist Daniel Eschricht. Taxonomy In his morphological analysis, found that eschrichtiids and Cetotheriidae ('' Cetotherium'', ''Mixocetus'' and ''Metopocetus'') form a monophyletic sister group of Balaenopteridae. A specimen from the Late Pliocene of northern Italy, named ''" Cetotherium" gastaldii'' by and renamed ''"Balaenoptera" gastaldii'' by , was identified as a basal eschrichtiid by who recombined it to '' Eschrichtioides gastaldi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baleen Whales
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, depe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baleen Whales
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, depe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evolution Of Cetaceans
The evolution of cetaceans is thought to have begun in the Indian subcontinent from even-toed ungulates 50 million years ago (mya) and to have proceeded over a period of at least 15 million years. Cetaceans are fully aquatic marine mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla and branched off from other artiodactyls around 50 mya. Cetaceans are thought to have evolved during the Eocene (56-34 mya), the second epoch of the present-extending Cenozoic Era. Molecular and morphological analyses suggest Cetacea share a relatively recent closest common ancestor with hippopotami and that they are sister groups. Being mammals, they surface to breathe air; they have 5 finger bones (even-toed) in their fins; they nurse their young; and, despite their fully aquatic life style, they retain many skeletal features from their terrestrial ancestors.Thewissen, J. G. M., L. N. Cooper, J. C. George, and S. Bajpai. 2009. From land to water: the origin of whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Evolu ... [...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] |
Livyatan Melvillei
''Livyatan'' is an extinct genus of macroraptorial sperm whale containing one known species: ''L. melvillei''. The genus name was inspired by the biblical sea monster Leviathan, and the species name by Herman Melville, the author of the famous novel ''Moby-Dick'' about a white bull sperm whale. It is mainly known from the Pisco Formation of Peru during the Tortonian stage of the Miocene epoch, about 9.9–8.9 million years ago (mya); however, finds of isolated teeth from other locations such as Chile, Argentina, South Africa, and Australia imply that either it or a close relative survived into the Pliocene, around 5mya, and was present throughout the Southern Hemisphere. It was a member of a group of macroraptorial sperm whales (or "raptorial sperm whales") and was probably an apex predator, preying on whales, seals, and so forth. Characteristically of raptorial sperm whales, ''Livyatan'' had functional, enamel-coated teeth on the upper and lower jaws, as well as several featu ... [...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] |
Megalodon
Megalodon (''Otodus megalodon''), meaning "big tooth", is an extinct species of mackerel shark that lived approximately 23 to 3.6 million years ago (Mya), from the Early Miocene to the Pliocene epochs. It was formerly thought to be a member of the family Lamnidae and a close relative of the great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''). However, it is now classified into the extinct family Otodontidae, which diverged from the great white shark during the Early Cretaceous. While regarded as one of the largest and most powerful predators to have ever lived, the megalodon is only known from fragmentary remains, and its appearance and maximum size are uncertain. Scientists differ on whether it would have more closely resembled a stockier version of the great white shark, the whale shark (''Rhincodon typus''), the basking shark (''Cetorhinus maximus'') or the sand tiger shark (''Carcharias taurus''). The most recent estimate with the least error range suggests a maximum leng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
