Gandakasia
Extinct genus of ambulocetid from Pakistan
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Gandakasia is an extinct genus of ambulocetid from Pakistan, that lived in the Eocene epoch. It probably caught its prey near rivers or streams. Just like Himalayacetus, Gandakasia is only known from a single jaw fragment, making comparisons to other ambulocetids difficult due to the lack of material.[3] Gandakasia probably inhabited a freshwater niche similar to the pakicetids.[3]
| Gandakasia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | †Ambulocetidae |
| Genus: | †Gandakasia Dehm & Oettingen-Spielberg, 1958 |
| Species: | †G. potens |
| Binomial name | |
| †Gandakasia potens Dehm & Oettingen-Spielberg, 1958[2] | |
Discovery
Gandakasia, named in 1958 by Richard Dehm and Therese zu Oettingen-Spielberg, was the first ambulcetid to be formally described. Because at the time no other cetaceans were known that possessed a similar morphology, Gandakasia was originally mistaken as a mesonychian.[4] However, in 1977, Phillip Gingerich suggested that Gandakasia was a basal member of cetacea.[5]
