Aulophyseter

Aulophyseter is an extinct genus of sperm whales from the Miocene formations of the west and east coasts of North America, as well as the Patagonian region of South America.

Aulophyseter
Temporal range: Mid-Late Miocene
~15.97–5.332 Ma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Superfamily: Physeteroidea
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: †Aulophyseter
Kellogg, 1927[1]
Species
  • A. morricei Kellogg, 1927 (type species)
  • A. mediatlanticus Cope, 1895
  • A. rionegrensis Gondar, 1974

Aulophyseter reached a length of approximately 6 metres (20 ft) with an estimated body weight of 1,100 kilograms (2,400 lb).[2]

Distribution

Fossils of Aulophyseter have been found in:[3]

See also

References
  1. Remington, Kellogg (1927). "Study of the skull of a fossil sperm-whale from the Temblor Miocene of Southern California". Contributions to Palaeontology from the Carnegie Institution of Washington: 3–24.
  2. R. Nieuwenhuys (1998) The central nervous system of vertebrates, Volume 1 p.2130
  3. Aulophyseter at Fossilworks.org
  • Colbert's Evolution of the Vertebrates: A History of the Backboned Animals Through Time by Edwin H. Colbert, Michael Morales, and Eli C. Minkoff Pg.396.
  • Sperm Whales: Social Evolution in the Ocean by Hal Whitehead
  • Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals by William F. Perrin, Bernd Wursig, and J. G.M. Thewissen
  • Aulophyseter morricei


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