Saghacetus

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Saghacetus
Temporal range: 37.2–33.9 
Ma
Skull of Saghacetus osiris at the
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
, Paris
Scientific classification Edit this 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]
  • Dorudon elliotsmithii
  • D. sensitivus
  • D. zitteli
  • Zeuglodon elliotsmithii
  • Z. sensitivius
  • Z. sensitivus
  • Z. zitteli

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 / 29.7; 30.8, paleocoordinates 25°00′N 26°42′E / 25.0°N 26.7°E / 25.0; 26.7).[2][3]

Discovery

Mandible from Dames 1894, the type specimen

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

Life restoration

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

  1. ^ Saghacetus osiris in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved May 2013.
  2. ^ Saghacetus in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved May 2013.
  3. ^ Tamariskenbucht (Eocene of Egypt) in the Paleobiology Database. Retrieved July 2013.
  4. ^ Dames 1883a; Dames 1883b, pp. 130–135; Dames 1894
  5. ^ Gingerich 2007, pp. 110–112
  6. ^ Gingerich 1992, p. 73
  7. ^ a b Uhen 2008, p. 91–94
  8. ^ Waugh & Thewissen 2021
  9. ^ 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
    .
  • .
  • 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
    .