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Taxonomy
Ontocetus oxymycterus was named by Kellogg (1925). Its type specimen is USNM 10923, a partial skull (incomplete extremity of the rostrum and mandibles, with 10 or 11 roots or portions of teeth in situ in each mandible), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Santa Barbara Lighthouse, which is in a Langhian slope dolomite in the Monterey Formation of California.
It was recombined as Scaldicetus oxymycterus by Kohno and Ray (2008); it was considered an invalid subgroup of Ontocetus by Uhen et al. (2008); it was recombined as Albicetus oxymycterus by Boersma and Pyenson (2015).
It was recombined as Scaldicetus oxymycterus by Kohno and Ray (2008); it was considered an invalid subgroup of Ontocetus by Uhen et al. (2008); it was recombined as Albicetus oxymycterus by Boersma and Pyenson (2015).
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1925 | Ontocetus oxymycterus Kellogg pp. 2-7 figs. Plates 1-2 |
| 1930 | Ontocetus oxymycterus Hay p. 598 |
| 1977 | Ontocetus oxymycterus Barnes p. 328 |
| 2008 | Scaldicetus oxymycterus Kohno and Ray p. 63 |
| 2015 | Albicetus oxymycterus Boersma and Pyenson p. 7 |
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If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.
†Albicetus oxymycterus Kellogg 1925
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| A. T. Boersma and N. D. Pyenson 2015 | Albicetus is a large odontocete (about 6 m in total length) that belongs in Physeteroidea based on the following features: large, single-rooted upper and lower teeth, with a ratio of condylobasal length to greatest tooth diameter greater than 0.03; anterior elongation of the premaxillae onto the rostrum; sinistral asymmetry of the posterior processes of the premax- illae; and a posterior section of the rostrum that is wide and relatively flat. Albicetus differs from all other known physeteroid genera in the following combination of character states: retention of enameled lower tooth apices with longitudinal striations; large lower and upper teeth with a ratio of condylobasal length to greatest tooth diameter of approximately 0.05; a mesorostral groove completely roofed over at the level of the antorbital notches; and the pre- maxillae angled downward into the midline, creating a trough down the middle of the rostrum. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: subo = suborder, o = order | |||||
| Reference: Uhen 2004 | |||||
Age range: base of the Langhian to the top of the Late/Upper Miocene or 15.98000 to 5.33300 Ma
Collections (5 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Langhian | Japan (Iwate) | Ontocetus oxymycterus (76005) | |
| Langhian | USA (California) | Ontocetus oxymycterus (type locality: 45483) | |
| Middle Miocene | Japan (Iwate) | Ontocetus oxymycterus (46041) | |
| Serravallian | Japan (Hokkaido) | Ontocetus oxymycterus (75999) | |
| Late/Upper Miocene | Japan (Hokkaido) | Ontocetus oxymycterus (76000) |