Chrysocetus

Chrysocetus (from Greek chrysous, "golden", and ketos, "whale", in reference to the gold-colored bones of the type specimen)[1] is a genus of extinct early whale known from Late Eocene-aged fossils of the eastern United States and western Africa.

Chrysocetus
Temporal range: Eocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: †Basilosauridae
Subfamily: †Dorudontinae
Genus: †Chrysocetus
Uhen & Gingerich 2001
Species
  • Chrysocetus fouadassiiGingerich and Zouhri, 2015
  • Chrysocetus healyorumUhen and Gingerich, 2001 (type)

Taxonomy

The type species, Chrysocetus healyorum, is based on a single subadult specimen from the late middle or early late Eocene of Orangeburg County, South Carolina (33.3°N 80.4°W / 33.3; -80.4, paleocoordinates 33.3°N 72.5°W / 33.3; -72.5).[2] The holotype, SCSM 87.195, consists of a partial skull with lower jaws, ten teeth, and the hyoid apparatus; 21 vertebrae, some ribs and a sternum; a partial left forelimb; and partial innominates.[1]

A second species, Chrysocetus fouadassii, is known from Bartonian-age deposits in the Western Sahara.[3]

Description

Chrysocetus is similar to Zygorhiza except that it lacks the denticles on the cingula of the upper premolars characteristic of Zygorhiza. The premolars of Chrysocetus have smoother enamel than other dorudontines and are more gracile than those of Dorudon.[1]

Notes
  1. Uhen & Gingerich 2001, p. 3
  2. Santee Portland Cement Co. quarry (Eocene of the United States) in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved April 2013.
  3. Philip D. Gingerich and Samir Zouhri (2015). "New fauna of archaeocete whales (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Bartonian middle Eocene of southern Morocco". Journal of African Earth Sciences 111: 273–286. doi:10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.08.006.
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References
  • Uhen, Mark D.; Gingerich, Philip D. (January 2001). "New genus of dorudontine archaeocete (Cetacea) from the middle-to-late Eocene of South Carolina". Marine Mammal Science. 17 (1): 1–34. doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2001.tb00979.x. hdl:2027.42/73005. OCLC 204061291.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)


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