''Nalacetus'' is an extinct

pakicetid Pakicetidae ("Pakistani whales") is an extinct family of Archaeoceti (early whales) that lived during the Early Eocene in Pakistan. Description described the first pakicetid, '' Ichthyolestes'', but at the time they did not recognize it as a ce ...

early whale, fossils of which have been found in

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 Midd ...

red beds in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, Pakistan (, paleocoordinates ).. Retrieved June 2013.. Retrieved June 2013. ''Nalacetus'' lived in a fresh water environment, was amphibious, and carnivorous. It was considered monophyletic by . It was said to be

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

-sized and one of the earliest forms of the order ''

Cetacea Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals that includes whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively carnivorous diet. They propel them ...

.'' ''Nalacetus'' is known mostly from dental remains from the Lutetian of the Kala Chitta Hill, Punjab, Pakistan: * H-GSPHoward University-Geological Survey of Pakistan Project 96055, right palatal fragment with P⁴ and M¹⁻². * H-GSP 30306, right maxillary fragment with P² and partial P³⁻⁴; a fragmentary mandible with fragmented teeth together with some isolated lower teeth. In the cheek teeth of ''Pakicetus'', the protocone lobe increases from the first molar to the third. In ''Nalacetus'', in contrast, the protocone lobe is larger in the first molar than in the second.

Notes

References

* * Pakicetidae Extinct animals of Pakistan Eocene mammals of Asia Prehistoric cetacean genera Fossil taxa described in 1998 {{paleo-whale-stub