''Aglaocetus'' is a genus of extinct

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 ...

known from the Miocene of

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

, the US Eastern Seaboard,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. It was once considered a member of

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 py ...

along with many other putative cetotheres, but was recently recognized as representing a distinct family from true Cetotheriidae.

Species

There are four currently recognized valid species: ''Aglaocetus moreni'', ''A. latifrons'', ''A. burtini'', and ''A. rotundus''. The type species, ''Aglaocetus moreni'', was originally described as a species 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 ...

'', but later recognized as generically distinct from the latter. ''"Aglaocetus" patulus'', described from the Calvert Formation by Remington Kellogg in 1968, was recovered by Bisconti et al. (2013) in a different phylogenetic position than the ''Aglaocetus'' type species. In 2020, ''A. patulus'' was renamed '' Atlanticetus''.Bisconti, M., Damarco, P., Mao, S., Pavia, M. and Carnevale, G. (2020). The earliest baleen whale from the Mediterranean: large‐scale implications of an early Miocene thalassotherian mysticete from Piedmont, Italy. Papers in Palaeontology doi:10.1002/spp2.1336

Distribution

Fossils of ''Aglaocetus'' have been found in:''Aglaocetus''
at

Fossilworks Fossilworks is a portal which provides query, download, and analysis tools to facilitate access to the Paleobiology Database The Paleobiology Database is an online resource for information on the distribution and classification of fossil animals ...

.org ;Miocene *

Gaimán Formation The Gaiman Formation ( es, Formación Gaiman), in older literature also referred to as Patagonian Marine Formation ( es, Formación Patagonia Marino, ''Patagoniense''), is a fossiliferous geologic formation of the Peninsula Valdés Basin in the e ...

(

Colhuehuapian The Colhuehuapian age is a period of geologic time (21.0–17.5 Ma) within the Early Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically within the SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Deseadan and precedes the Santacrucian ag ...

Santacrucian The Santacrucian age is a period of geologic time (17.5 – 16.3 Ma) within the Early Miocene epoch of the Neogene, used more specifically with SALMA classification in South America. It follows the Colhuehuapian and precedes the Friasian age. ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Diest Diest () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Flemish Brabant. Situated in the northeast of the Hageland region, Diest neighbours the provinces of Antwerp to its North, and Limburg to the East and is situated around 60 ...

and

Berchem Formation Berchem () is a southern district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Berchem is located along the old ''Grote Steenweg'' (Dutch for 'Big Paved Road') that has connected Brussels to Antwerp for several centu ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

* Eibergen Member,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

References

Prehistoric cetacean genera Miocene cetaceans Miocene mammals of Asia Fossils of Japan Miocene mammals of Europe Fossils of the Netherlands Fossils of Belgium Miocene mammals of North America Neogene United States Miocene mammals of South America Santacrucian Colhuehuapian Neogene Argentina Fossils of Argentina Gaiman Formation Fossil taxa described in 1934 Taxa named by Remington Kellogg {{paleo-whale-stub