Herpetocetus Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Herpetocetus bramblei | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | Cetotheriidae |
Subfamily: | † Herpetocetinae |
Genus: | †
Herpetocetus van Beneden, 1872 |
Species [1] | |
†H. scaldiensis van Beneden, 1872 (
type) |
Herpetocetus is a genus of cetotheriid mysticete in the subfamily Herpetocetinae.
There are four recognized species of Herpetocetus: H. scaldiensis, [2] H. transatlanticus, [3] H. bramblei, [3] and H. morrowi. [4] An additional unnamed species from Japan has been referred to the nomen dubium Mizuhoptera sendaicus in the past, [5] but the undiagnostic nature of the holotype of the latter means that it cannot be confidently referred to M. sendaicus. [6]
A recently discovered specimen of Herpetocetus from the Lower-Middle Pleistocene ( Gelasian) Falor Formation of northern California indicates that Herpetocetus survived into the early Pleistocene, shedding light on the diversity of mysticetes in the early Pleistocene. [7] Since other cetotheriids became extinct by the end of the Neogene, it's therefore possible that some Pliocene representatives of Cetotheriidae made it into the Pleistocene to co-exist with extant mysticete species.