Cetotheriidae

Cetotheriidae
Temporal range: Chattian–Gelasian
Heterocetus guiscardii vertebrae
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cetacea
Suborder: Mysticeti
Superfamily: Cetotherioidea
Family: †Cetotheriidae
Brandt, 1872
Genera

see text

Cetotheriidae is an extinct family of baleen whales in the suborder Mysticeti.[1] The family existed from the Late Oligocene to the Late Pliocene before going extinct.

Taxonomy

Since its description by Brant in 1872, Cetotheriidae was used as a wastebasket taxon for baleen whales which were not assignable to extant whale families.[2] Starting in the early 2000's a number of studies on the phylogeny has reduced the included genera down to thirteen in two subfamilies.[3]

Cetotheriidae (Brandt, 1872)

References

  1. ^ The Paleobiology Database Cetotheriidae entry Accessed on 27 December 2010
  2. ^ Steeman, M.E. (2010). "The extinct baleen whale fauna from the Miocene-Pliocene of Belgium and the diagnostic cetacean ear bones". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 8 (1): 63–80. doi:10.1080/14772011003594961. 
  3. ^ Bouetel, V.; Muizon, C.de (2006). "The anatomy and relationships of Piscobalaena nana (Cetacea, Mysticeti), a Cetotheriidae s.s. from the early Pliocene of Peru". Geodiversitas 28 (2): 319–395. http://www.mnhn.fr/museum/front/medias/publication/8119_g06n2a8.pdf. 
  4. ^ Kimura, T.; Hasegawa, y. (2010). "A New Baleen Whale (Mysticeti: Cetotheriidae) from the Earliest Late Miocene of Japan and a Reconsideration of the Phylogeny of Cetotheres". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30 (2): 577–591. doi:10.1080/02724631003621912.