''Cephalotropis'' is a genus of

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 ...

belonging to the extinct family

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 ...

. Its type species is ''Cephalotropis coronatus''.

Description

''Cephalotropis'' is diagnosed by the following features: a long sagittal crest, a more anteriorly produced angle of the supraoccipital angle, among other features. There is insufficient information to determine how big ''Cephalotropis'' was, but it probably grew to about 16–20 feet long.

Taxonomy

''Cephalotropis coronatus'' was originally described from the Late Miocene ( Tortonian) St. Mary's Formation of St. Mary's Formation,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, based on the holotype USNM 9352. A second species of the genus, ''C. nectus'', was named for a specimen from a Tortonian-aged formation in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, but is now considered a junior synonym of ''C. coronatus''.P. Mocho and L. Povons. 2010. Contribucao para revisao sistematica de um cranio de Cephalotropis Cope, 1896 (Cetacea: Cetotheriidae) do Miocenico superior (Tortoniano inferior) da Adica (Sesimbra, Portugal). Jornadas de la Sociedad Espanola do Paleontologia Lisboa, Portugal 26:180-183

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q18205909 Baleen whales Miocene cetaceans Prehistoric mammals of North America Prehistoric cetacean genera Fossil taxa described in 1896