Biology:Diaphorocetus
Diaphorocetus is an extinct genus of odontocete cetacean belonging to Physeteroidea. Its remains were found in the Monte León Formation of Argentina, dating to the Early Miocene.[1]
Systematics
Diaphorocetus was originally named Mesocetus by Moreno (1892).[2] Lydekker (1893) found that Mesocetus was already in use for an extinct mysticete, so he renamed the sperm whale Hypocetus.[3] Ameghino (1894) too recognized Moreno's name as preoccupied, but unaware of Lydekker's paper, coined his own replacement name Diaphorocetus for Mesocetus.[4] Diaphorocetus was declared a nomen protectum (protected name) by Paolucci et al. (2019) because Hypocetus and Paracetus have not been used as valid since 1899 under Article 23.9 of the Code.[5]
Paleobiology
With a total body length of 3.5–4 m, Diaphorocetus is one of the smallest physeteroids yet known.[6] The small teeth of Diaphorocetus and the bottleneck-like nature of the rostrum suggest that Diaphorocetus employed a feeding strategy intermediate between that of raptorial sperm whales like Acrophyseter and Livyatan and extant sperm whales.[5]
References
- ↑ Diaphorocetus at Fossilworks.org
- ↑ Moreno, F. P. 1892. Lijeros apuntes sobre dos generos de cetaceos fosiles de la Republica Argentina. Revista de la Museo La Plata 3, 393–400.
- ↑ Lydekker, R. 1893 [1894]. Cetacean skulls from Patagonia. Anales del Museo de la Plata 2: 1–13.
- ↑ Ameghino, F. 1894. Enumeration synoptique des especes de mammiferes fossiles des formations eocenes de Patagonie. Boletin de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias en Cordoba 13: 259–455
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Florencia Paolucci, Mónica R. Buono, Marta S. Fernández, Felix G. Marx & José I. Cuitiño (2019). Diaphorocetus poucheti (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Physeteroidea) from Patagonia, Argentina: one of the earliest sperm whales, Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, DOI:10.1080/14772019.2019.1605544
- ↑ Paolucci, F., Buono, M. R., Fernández, M. S., Marx, F. G., & Cuitiño, J. I. (2020). Diaphorocetus poucheti (Cetacea, Odontoceti, Physeteroidea) from Patagonia, Argentina: one of the earliest sperm whales. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, 18(4), 335–355. [1]
Wikidata ☰ Q3023455 entry
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