Saghacetus
Saghacetus Temporal range:
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Skull of Saghacetus osiris at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle , Paris
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | †Basilosauridae |
Subfamily: | †Dorudontinae |
Genus: | †Saghacetus Gingerich 1992 |
Species | |
S. osiris (type) | |
Synonyms[1] | |
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Saghacetus is an
Upper Eocene (middle Priabonian, 37.2 to 33.9 million years ago) Qasr el Sagha Formation, Egypt (29°42′N 30°48′E / 29.7°N 30.8°E, paleocoordinates 25°00′N 26°42′E / 25.0°N 26.7°E).[2][3]
Discovery
In 1879, German botanist
Zeuglodon Valley" with a few kilometres. German palaeontologist Wilhelm Barnim Dames described the material,[4] including a well-preserved dentary which is the type specimen of Zeuglodon osiris.[5]
The generic name Saghacetus was established by Gingerich 1992[6] to group the ancient species Dorudon osiris, D. zitteli, D. sensitivius and D. elliotsmithii on a single species, Saghacetus osiris. This species is distinguished from other members of the subfamily Dorudontinae by its smaller size and the slightly elongated proximal lumbar and caudal vertebrae.[7]
Description
Saghacetus was a small whale, reaching 4 m (13 ft) in length and 350–379 kg (772–836 lb) in body mass.[7][8] It was smaller than its contemporary Stromerius, both of which are smaller than the older Dorudon.[9]
Notes
- ^ Saghacetus osiris in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved May 2013.
- ^ Saghacetus in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved May 2013.
- ^ Tamariskenbucht (Eocene of Egypt) in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved July 2013.
- ^ Dames 1883a; Dames 1883b, pp. 130–135; Dames 1894
- ^ Gingerich 2007, pp. 110–112
- ^ Gingerich 1992, p. 73
- ^ a b Uhen 2008, p. 91–94
- ^ Waugh & Thewissen 2021
- ^ Gingerich 2007, Diagnosis, p. 368
References
- Dames, Wilhelm Barnim (1883a). "Ein Epistropheus von Zeuglodon sp". Sitzungsberichte der Gesellschaft Naturforschender Freunde zu Berlin: 3. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
- Dames, W. B. (1883b). "Über eine tertiäre Wirbelthierfauna von der westlichen Insel des Birket-el-Qurūn im Fajum (Aepgypten)". Sitzungsberichte der Königlich Preußischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Jan-Mai 1883: 129–153. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
- Dames, W. B. (1894). "Ueber Zeuglodonten aus Aegypten und die Beziehungen der Archaeoceten zu den übrigen Cetaceen". Geologische und Paläontologische Abhandlungen. 5. Jena: 189–222. Retrieved September 22, 2013. (plates)
- OCLC 26941847.
- Gingerich, P. D. (2007). "Stromerius nidensis, new archaeocete (Mammalia, Cetacea) from the Upper Eocene Qasr El-Sagha Formation, Fayum, Egypt" (PDF). Contributions from the Museum of Paleontology. 31 (13): 363–78. OCLC 214233870.
- ISBN 978-0-12-373553-9.
- Waugh, D.A.; Thewissen, J.G.M. (2021). "The Pattern of Brain-size Change in the Early Evolution of Cetaceans". PLOS ONE. 16 (9). e0257803. PMID 34582492.
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