Mauicetus
Extinct species of whale
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mauicetus is a genus of extinct baleen whale from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand.
| Mauicetus Temporal range: Late Oligocene. | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Infraorder: | Cetacea |
| Family: | Balaenopteridae (?) |
| Genus: | †Mauicetus Benham, 1939 |
| Type species | |
| †Lophocephalus parki Benham, 1937 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Lophocephalus Benham, 1937 | |
Taxonomy
Mauicetus was originally named Lophocephalus by William Benham, but that name was already used for a beetle, and Benham provided the replacement name Mauicetus.[1][2] Three more species were named in 1956: M. brevicollis, M. lophocephalus, and M. waitakiensis.[3] Nowadays, Mauicetus parki is considered a stem-balaenopteroid, while M. lophocephalus and M. waitakiensis have been reclassified in Eomysticetidae, with M. lophocephalus and M. waitakiensis being assigned to Tokarahia and Tohoraata.[4][5][6]
