Orycterocetus

<i>Orycterocetus</i>

Orycterocetus

Extinct genus of mammals

Orycteocetus is an extinct genus of sperm whale from the Miocene of the northern Atlantic Ocean.

Quick Facts Orycterocetus Temporal range: Miocene, Scientific classification ...

Classification

Orycterocetus is a member of Physeteroidea closely related to crown-group sperm whales. The type species, O. quadratidens, was first named by Joseph Leidy on the basis of two teeth, two partial mandibular rami, and a rib from Neogene deposits of Virginia.[1] Two more species were subsequently described, O. cornutidens Leidy 1856[2] and O. crocodilinus Cope, 1868,[3] the latter from the middle Miocene Calvert Formation.

References

  1. [1]
    J. Leidy. 1853. [Observations on extinct Cetacea]. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences 6:377-378
  2. [2]
    J. Leidy. 1856. Notice of remains of extinct vertebrated animals discovered by Professor E. Emmons. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 8:255-257
  3. [3]
    E. D. Cope. 1867. An addition to the vertebrate fauna of the Miocene period, with a synopsis of the extinct Cetacea of the United States. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 19(4):138-157

Sources

  • Cenozoic Seas: The View From Eastern North America by Edward J. Petuch
  • Marine Mammals: Evolutionary Biology by Annalisa Berta and James L. Sumich


This prehistoric cetacean-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Orycterocetus, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.