Whippomorpha

Whippomorpha Temporal range: Early Eocene–present PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Clade:	Cetancodontamorpha
Suborder:	Whippomorpha Waddell et al. 1999
Taxa
Hippopotamoidea †Anthracotheriidae Hippopotamidae †Dichobunoidea †Mixtotheriidae †Dichobunidae †Helohyidae †Cebochoeridae Cetaceomorpha †Raoellidae Cetacea

Cladogram showing Whippomorpha within Artiodactylamorpha. Whippomorpha consists of the clades labeled Hippo and Cetaceamorpha.

Whippomorpha is the clade containing the Cetacea (whales, dolphins, etc.) and their closest living relatives, the hippopotamuses, named by Waddell et al. (1999).^[1] It is defined as a crown group, including all species that are descendants of the most recent common ancestor of Hippopotamus amphibius and Tursiops truncatus.^[1] This would be a sub-grouping of the Cetartiodactyla (which also includes pigs and ruminants). It is not clear how recently whales and hippos share a common ancestor, though the genetic evidence is strong that the cetaceans arose from within the Artiodactyla, thus making the even-toed ungulate grouping a paraphyletic one.^[2]

Whippomorpha is a mixture of English (wh[ale] + hippo[potamus]) and Greek (μορφή, morphe = form). Attempts have been made to rename the clade Cetancodonta^[3] but Whippomorpha maintains precedent.^[4]

References