''Crenatocetus'' (from Latin: ''crena'', "notch", and ''cetus'', "whale") is an extinct
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
of
protocetid
Protocetidae, the protocetids, form a diverse and heterogeneous group of extinct cetaceans known from Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, and North America.
Description
There were many genera, and some of these are very well known (e.g., ''R ...
early whale containing one species, ''Crenatocetus rayi'', that lived along the
Atlantic Coastal Plain of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
during the
Lutetian
The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage or age in the Eocene. It spans the time between . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it is sometimes referred to as the ...
in the late middle
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...
. The species is named in honour of paleontologist
Clayton E. Ray, former curator at the
National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural History is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. In 2021, with 7 ...
.
The skull is estimated to be long, which makes ''Crenatocetus'' a mid-sized protocetid. ''
Georgiacetus
''Georgiacetus'' is an extinct genus of ancient whale known from the Eocene period of the United States.
Fossils are known from Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi and protocetid fossils from the right time frame, but not yet confirmed as ''Georg ...
'' (from
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
) is an older and more primitive close relative, while ''
Pappocetus'' (from
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
) is a younger and more derived relative.
The
holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...
USNM 392014, recovered in 1985 in a truck load of "marine
marl" probably transported from
New Bern, North Carolina, is two incomplete dentaries with a left P
4 and broken M
1-3; a right partial P
4, partial M
1-2, and a complete M
3.
The
type locality is the
Martin Marietta New Bern Quarry,
Craven County, North Carolina (, paleocoordinates ).
[. Retrieved March 2013.]
References
Protocetidae
Fossil taxa described in 2008
Prehistoric monotypic mammal genera
Prehistoric cetacean genera
Extinct mammals of North America
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