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Orycterocetus
Taxonomy
Orycterocetus was named by Leidy (1853) [Sepkoski's age data: T Mi-l Sepkoski's reference number: 1066]. Its type is Orycterocetus quadratidens. It was considered monophyletic by Uhen et al. (2008).
It was synonymized subjectively with Physeter by Trouessart (1898).
It was assigned to Delphinidae by Leidy (1853); to Catodontidae by Cope (1867); to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Physeterinae by Hay (1902), Simpson (1945), Muizon (1990), McKenna and Bell (1997), Fordyce and de Muizon (2001), Kazár (2002), Valerio and Laurito (2012); to Physeteroidea by Lambert (2008), Bianucci et al. (2011), Bianucci and Varola (2014), Hastings and Dooley (2017); to Panphyseteroidea by Velez-Juarbe et al. (2015), Berta (2017); and to Physeteridae by Gill (1871), Palmer (1904), Case (1904), Kellogg (1928), Hay (1930), Ginsburg and Janvier (1971), Ginsburg and Janvier (1975), Carroll (1988), Benton (1993), Gottfried et al. (1994), Geisler and Sanders (2003), Uhen et al. (2008), Marx et al. (2016), Collareta et al. (2017), Godfrey and Lambert (2023).
It was synonymized subjectively with Physeter by Trouessart (1898).
It was assigned to Delphinidae by Leidy (1853); to Catodontidae by Cope (1867); to Cetacea by Sepkoski (2002); to Physeterinae by Hay (1902), Simpson (1945), Muizon (1990), McKenna and Bell (1997), Fordyce and de Muizon (2001), Kazár (2002), Valerio and Laurito (2012); to Physeteroidea by Lambert (2008), Bianucci et al. (2011), Bianucci and Varola (2014), Hastings and Dooley (2017); to Panphyseteroidea by Velez-Juarbe et al. (2015), Berta (2017); and to Physeteridae by Gill (1871), Palmer (1904), Case (1904), Kellogg (1928), Hay (1930), Ginsburg and Janvier (1971), Ginsburg and Janvier (1975), Carroll (1988), Benton (1993), Gottfried et al. (1994), Geisler and Sanders (2003), Uhen et al. (2008), Marx et al. (2016), Collareta et al. (2017), Godfrey and Lambert (2023).
Species
Synonyms
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Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1853 | Orycterocetus Leidy p. 378 |
| 1867 | Orycterocetus Cope p. 144 |
| 1871 | Orycterocetus Gill p. 126 |
| 1902 | Orycterocetus Hay p. 595 |
| 1904 | Orycterocetus Case p. 32 |
| 1904 | Orycterocetus Palmer p. 483 |
| 1928 | Orycterocetus Kellogg p. 34 figs. Table 1 |
| 1930 | Orycterocetus Hay p. 597 |
| 1945 | Orycterocetus Simpson p. 102 |
| 1969 | Gargantuodon Ginsburg p. 995 figs. Fig. 1 |
| 1971 | Orycterocetus Ginsburg and Janvier p. 172 |
| 1975 | Orycterocetus Ginsburg and Janvier p. 83 |
| 1988 | Orycterocetus Carroll |
| 1990 | Orycterocetus Muizon p. 297 |
| 1993 | Orycterocetus Benton p. 761 |
| 1994 | Orycterocetus Gottfried et al. p. 233 |
| 1997 | Orycterocetus McKenna and Bell p. 380 |
| 2001 | Orycterocetus Fordyce and de Muizon p. 179 |
| 2002 | Orycterocetus Kazár p. 163 |
| 2002 | Orycterocetus Sepkoski |
| 2003 | Orycterocetus Geisler and Sanders p. 29 |
| 2008 | Orycterocetus Lambert p. 291 |
| 2008 | Orycterocetus Uhen et al. p. 576 |
| 2011 | Orycterocetus Bianucci et al. p. 560 |
| 2012 | Orycterocetus Valerio and Laurito p. 153 |
| 2014 | Orycterocetus Bianucci and Varola p. 116 |
| 2015 | Orycterocetus Velez-Juarbe et al. p. 15 figs. Fig. 10 |
| 2016 | Orycterocetus Marx et al. p. 124 |
| 2017 | Orycterocetus Berta p. 161 |
| 2017 | Orycterocetus Collareta et al. p. 269 figs. Figure 6 |
| 2017 | Orycterocetus Hastings and Dooley p. 83 |
| 2023 | Orycterocetus Godfrey and Lambert p. 63 |
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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.
G. †Orycterocetus Leidy 1853
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†Orycterocetus cornutidens Leidy 1856
†Orycterocetus crocodilinus Cope 1867
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Invalid names: Gargantuodon ligerensis Ginsburg 1969 [synonym]
†Orycterocetus quadratidens Leidy 1853
Invalid names: Gargantuodon Ginsburg 1969 [synonym]
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| M. D. Uhen et al. 2008 | Small to medium-sized sperm whale having twenty teeth in each upper jaw (17 in maxilla; 3 in premaxilla). Dentine core of slender curved teeth often with open funnel-like pulp cavity; fine annular lines of growth and longitudinal fluting characterized the dentine core of larger teeth; outer layer of cementum may completely cover the dentine on undamaged teeth; conical tip or crown of teeth occasionally black and polished, but lacks enamel; no perceptible distinction between crown and root or visible constriction to form neck below crown. Vertex of cranium with large supracranial basin bounded laterally on right side by elevated border of right maxillary; on left side by left premaxillary and elevated crest of underlying left maxillary; and posteriorly by posterior borders of both maxillae which override medially the posterior ends of the frontals and abut against the dorsal crest of the supraoccipital. Right nasal bone either lost or greatly reduced; the left nasal bone flattened against the frontal behind greatly enlarged left nasal passage and partially concealed by squamous overlap of markedly expanded posterior portion of right premaxillary (Kellogg, 1965). |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: f = family, subo = suborder, o = order | |||||
| References: Nowak 1991, Uhen 2004 | |||||
Age range: base of the Burdigalian to the top of the Hemphillian or 20.45000 to 4.70000 Ma
Collections (31 total)
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miocene | France | O. crocodilinus (148403 148404 148405) | |
| Burdigalian | Italy | O. sp. (52152) | |
| Burdigalian | USA (Maryland) | O. crocodilinus (70593) | |
| Burdigalian | Germany | O. sp. (47425) | |
| Burdigalian - Langhian | Malta | O. sp. (85259) | |
| Burdigalian - Langhian | USA (Maryland) | O. crocodilinus (18518) | |
| Burdigalian - Tortonian | France | O. crocodilinus (187577) | |
| Burdigalian - Messinian | Italy (Apulia) | O. sp. (47125) | |
| Langhian | Malta | O. sp. (121983) | |
| Langhian | France | O. crocodylinus (148401) | |
| Langhian | USA (Virginia) | O. crocodilinus (71799 79793) O. sp. (57784) | |
| Langhian | France (Maine-et-Loire) | Gargantuodon ligerensis (148396) | |
| Langhian | USA (Maryland) | O. crocodilinus (45506 48884 55517 70827 71634) | |
| Langhian - Serravallian | Belgium (Nijlen) | O. crocodilinus (53679) | |
| Langhian - Tortonian | France (Maine-et-Loire) | O. crocodilinus (142149) | |
| Serravallian | USA (Maryland) | O. crocodilinus (49945 55396 60376) O. sp. (70821) | |
| Serravallian | USA (Virginia) | O. crocodilinus (57700) | |
| Hemphillian | Costa Rica (Limón) | O. sp. (122044) | |
| Zanclean | USA (North Carolina) | O. quadratidens, O. cornutidens (77581) O. sp. (52582) |