The family Cetotheriidae and the genus Cetotherium (
sensu lato) have been used as
wastebaskets for all kinds of baleen whales, most notably by
Brandt 1873, Spassky (1954) and
Mčedlidze 1970. Based on more recent phylogenetic studies and revisions of many 19th century genera, much smaller monophyletic Cetotheriidae and Cetotheriumsensu stricto is limited to a single or only a few species. For example,
Gol'din, Startsev & Krakhmalnaya 2013 included only C. rathkii and C. riabinini in the genus and only ten genera in the family.[3]
Cetotheriidae were thought to have gone extinct during the Pliocene until 2012, when it was hypothesized that the
pygmy right whale was the sole surviving species of this family.[4]
Formerly assigned to Cetotherium
The following species were originally described as nominal species of Cetotherium but have been either reassigned to other genera or removed from Cetotherium:
Cetotherium furlongi Kellogg, 1925,[5] is known from a partial skull from the
Burdigalian of the Vaqueros Formation in
California, but the holotype is lost.[6]
Cetotherium gastaldii Strobel, 1875,[7] known from the early Pliocene-age Sabbie d'Asti Formation of the
Piedmont region in Italy, is now the type species of the
eschrichtiid genus Eschrichtioides.[8]
Cetotherium klinderi Brandt, 1871,[9] is known from an isolated earbone from Miocene sediments in
Chişinău,
Moldova. Although fragmentary, it is not congeneric with the two species of Cetotherium.[3][10]
Cetotherium maicopicum Spasski, 1951,[11] based on a specimen from the late
Miocene of the Russian
Caucasus, was reassigned to the genus Kurdalagonus from the same region in 2012, although Gol'din and Startsev (2016) have questioned this referral.[12][10]
Cetotherium mayeri Brandt, 1871,[9] known from a partial skeleton, has been reassigned to Mithridatocetus.[3][10]
Cetotherium incertum Brandt, 1873, known from a vertebra, and "Ziphius" priscus Eichwald, 1840 are nomina dubia, while Cetotherium pusillum Nordmann, 1860 requires re-assessment.[10]
Evolution
Cetotheres came into existence during the
Oligocene epoch. The cetotheres have been divided into two sub-groups. One group includes Cetotherium. From an evolutionary perspective, these whales share some characteristics of the
Balaenopteridae and
Eschrichtiidae.[13]
^Strobel, P (1875). "Notizie preliminari su le Balenoptere fossili subappennine del Museo parmense". Bollettino del R. Comitato Geologico d'Italia (in Italian). 5 (6): 131–140.
^
abBrandt, J. F. 1871. Bericht uber den Fortgang meiner Studien uber di Cetaceen, welche das grosse zur Tertiarzeit von Mitteleuropa bis Centralasien hinein ausgedehnte Meeresbechen bevolkerten. Bulletin de l'Académie Impériale de Saint-Pétersbourg 16: 563–566.
^
abcdGol'din, Pavel; Startsev, Dmitry (2016). "A systematic review of cetothere baleen whales (Cetacea, Cetotheriidae) from the Late Miocene of Crimea and Caucasus, with a new genus". Papers in Palaeontology. 3: 49–68.
doi:
10.1002/spp2.1066.
S2CID88690543.
^P. I. Spasski. 1951. Ostaki tsetoheriev iz Servernogo Kavkaza (okr. g. Maikopa) Remains of cetotheria from the Northern Caucasus in the neighborhood of Maikop Town. Izvestia Akademii Nauk Azerbaidzhanskoi SSR 2:57-65
^Tarasenko, K. K.; Lopatin, A. V. (2012). "New Baleen Whale Genera (Cetacea, Mammalia) from the Miocene of the Northern Caucasus and Ciscaucasia: 1. Kurdalagonus gen. nov. from the Middle–Late Sarmatian of Adygea". Paleontological Journal. 46 (5): 531–542.
doi:
10.1134/s0031030112050115.
S2CID85334152.
Barry Cox, Colin Harrison, R.J.G. Savage, and Brian Gardiner. (1999): The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures: A Visual Who's Who of Prehistoric Life. Simon & Schuster.
Berta, Annalisa; Deméré, Thomas (2008).
"Mysticetes, Evolution"(PDF). In Perrin, William F.; Würsig, Bernd; Thewissen, J. G. M. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals. Academic Press. pp. 751–752.
ISBN978-0-12-373553-9.