Cetotherium
| Cetotherium Temporal range: Miocene–Pliocene | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mounted skeleton of Cetotherium riabinini | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Cetacea |
| Suborder: | Mysticeti |
| Family: | Cetotheriidae Brandt 1872 |
| Genus: | Cetotherium Brandt 1843 |
| Species[1] | |
|
†C. crassangulum Cope 1895 | |
Cetotherium ("whale beast") is a genus of extinct cetaceans from the family Cetotheriidae.[2]
Taxonomy
The family Cetotheriidae and the genus Cetotherium (sensu lato) have been used as wastebaskets for all kinds of baleen whales, most notably by Brandt 1873, Spassky (1954) and Mčedlidze 1970. Based on more recent phylogenetic studies and revisions of many 19th century genera, much smaller monophyletic Cetotheriidae and Cetotherium sensu stricto is limited to a single or only a few species. For example, Gol'din, Startsev & Krakhmalnaya 2013 included only C. rathkii and C. riabinini in the genus and only ten genera in the family.[3]
Evolution
Cetotheres came into existence during the Oligocene epoch. The cetotheres have been divided into two sub-groups. One group includes Cetotherium. From evolutionary perspective, these whales share some characteristics of the Balaenopteridae and Eschrichtiidae.[4]
Paleobiology
Fossil record have revealed predator-prey relationship between large sharks (e.g. C. megalodon) and Cetotheriids. The raptorial toothed whale, Livyatan melvillei, may too have posed a threat to these whales.
See also
- Evolution of Cetaceans
References
Notes
- ↑ "Classification of the family Cetotheriidae". Fossilwork. Retrieved December 2013.
- ↑ Berta & Deméré 2008
- ↑ Gol'din, Startsev & Krakhmalnaya 2013, pp. 2, 4–6
- ↑ Kimura & Ozawa 2002
Sources
- Barry Cox, Colin Harrison, R.J.G. Savage, and Brian Gardiner. (1999): The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life. Simon & Schuster.
- Berta, Annalisa; Deméré, Thomas (2008). "Mysticetes, Evolution". In Perrin, William F.; Würsig, Bernd; Thewissen, J. G. M. Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press. pp. 751–752. ISBN 978-0-12-373553-9.
- Brandt, J. F. (1843). "De Cetotherio, novo Balaenarum familiae genere in Rossia meridionali ante aliquot annos effesso". Bulletin de la classe physico-mathématique de l'Académie impériale des sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg (in French) 1 (10–12). Retrieved November 2013. Lay summary (November 2013).
- Brandt, J. F. (1872). "Über eine neue Classification der Bartenwhale (Balaenoidea) mit Berücksichtigung der untergegangenen Gattungen derselben". Bulletin de L'Académie imperiale des sciences de St.-Pétersbourg. 3 (in German) 17. Retrieved November 2013. Lay summary (November 2013).
- Brandt, J. F. (1873). "Untersuchungen über die fossilen und subfossilen Cetaceen Europa's". Mémoires de L'Académie Impériale des Sciences de Saint-Petersbourg. 7 20 (1): 1–372. Retrieved December 2013. Lay summary (December 2013).
- Gol'din, P.; Startsev, D.; Krakhmalnaya, T. (2013). "The anatomy of Cetotherium riabinini Hofstein, 1948, a baleen whale from the late Miocene of Ukraine". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. In press. doi:10.4202/app.2012.0107.
- Kimura; Ozawa, Tomowo (2002). "New Cetothere (Cetacea: Mysticeti) from the Miocene Chichibumachi Group, Japan.". Bulletin of the Saitama Museum of Natural History 22 (3): 684–702. JSTOR 4524259.
- Mčedlidze, G. A. (1970). Some General Characteristics of the Evolution of Cetaceans, Part 1 (in Russian, English translation by Dorothy B. Vitaliano). Tbilisi: Akademia Nauk Gruzinskoi S.S.R. Institut Paleobiologii. OCLC 663053619. Retrieved December 2013. Lay summary (December 2013).