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Mesocetus ✝

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Description

Mesocetus is an extinct genus of baleen whale from the Miocene of Antwerp, Belgium.

From Wikipedia article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesocetus, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Source Data

Source	ID	Link
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ID (GBIF)	3240258	https://www.gbif.org/species/3240258
PaleoBioDB ID (PBDB)	36762	https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36762

Rank

genus

Taxonomy (GBIF)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Cetacea : Tranatocetidae : Mesocetus

Taxonomy (PBDB)

Life : Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Cetacea : Tranatocetidae : Mesocetus

Taxonomic Status (GBIF)

accepted

Classification
(PBDB,GBIF)

Rank	Name	Author
-	Eukaryota
-	Opisthokonta	Cavalier-Smith 1987
kingdom	Animalia
-	Triploblastica	Lankester 1877
-	Nephrozoa	Jondelius et al. 2002
-	Deuterostomia	Grobben 1908
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1847
subphylum	Vertebrata	Lamarck 1801
superclass	Gnathostomata	Gegenbauer 1874
-	Osteichthyes
-	Sarcopterygii	Romer 1955
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha
-	Tetrapoda
-	Reptiliomorpha	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Anthracosauria	Säve-Söderbergh 1934
-	Batrachosauria
-	Cotylosauria
-	Amniota	Haeckel 1866
-	Synapsida	Osborn 1903
-	Therapsida
infraorder	Cynodontia
-	Epicynodontia	Hopson and Kitching 2001
infraorder	Eucynodontia	Kemp 1982
-	Probainognathia	Hopson 1990
-	Mammaliamorpha	Rowe 1988
-	Mammaliaformes	Rowe 1988
class	Mammalia	Linnaeus 1758
order	Cetacea	Brisson 1762
-	Pelagiceti	Uhen 2008
-	Neoceti	Fordyce and de Muizon 2001
suborder	Mysticeti	Cope 1891
-	Chaeomysticeti
-	Plicogulae	Geisler et al. 2011
family	Tranatocetidae	Gol'din and Steeman 2015
genus	Mesocetus	Van Beneden 1880

Scientific Name

Mesocetus Van Beneden, 1880

Name Published In

Bull. Acad. Belgique, (2) 50

Opinions (PBDB)

Name	Rank	Opinion	Evidence	Author
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Balaenopteridae	stated without evidence	Gorjanovic-Kramberger, 1892
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Balaenopterinae	stated without evidence	Trouessart, 1898
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Balaenidae	stated without evidence	Hay, 1902
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Balaenopterinae	stated without evidence	Trouessart, 1904
Mesocetus	genus	subjective synonym of Plesiocetus	stated without evidence	True, 1912
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Balaenopteridae	stated without evidence	Zittel, 1925
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Cetotheriidae	stated without evidence	Kellogg, 1928
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Balaenopteridae	stated without evidence	Pia, 1937
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Cetotheriidae	stated without evidence	Kellogg, 1944
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Cetotheriidae	implied	Carroll, 1988
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Cetotheriidae	stated without evidence	Paunovic, 1993
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Cetotheriidae	implied	McKenna and Bell, 1997
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Cetacea	second hand	Sepkoski, 2002
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Cetotheriinae	stated without evidence	Whitmore and Barnes, 2008
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Mysticeti	stated without evidence	Uhen et al., 2008
Mesocetus	genus	nomen dubium Mysticeti	stated without evidence	Steeman, 2010
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Tranatocetidae	stated with evidence	Gol'din and Steeman, 2015
Mesocetus	genus	belongs to Tranatocetidae	stated without evidence	Berta, 2017

Status (PBDB)

extinct

Taxon Size (PBDB)

First Recorded Appearance

20.4 - 16.0 Ma
Miocene

Last Recorded Appearance

3.60 - 0.78 Ma
Cenozoic

Environment

marine (based on Mysticeti)

Motility

actively mobile (based on Cetacea)

Diet

carnivore, suspension feeder (based on Mysticeti)

Reproduction

viviparous (based on Cetacea)

Ontogeny

modification of parts (based on Cetacea)

Taphonomy

hydroxylapatite (based on Mysticeti)

Primary Reference (PBDB)

P. J. Van Beneden. 1880. Les mysticetes a courts fanons des sables des environs d'anvers. Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique 1880:11-27

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesocetus

Fossil Distribution

Subtaxa

Name	Status	Common Name(s)	Fossil Occurrences	Oldest	Youngest
Delphinus brachyspondylus species	accepted (GBIF)	No associated record in PBDB
Mesocetus agrami ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		5	12.7 Ma Miocene	11.6 Ma Miocene
Mesocetus aquitanicus ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		2	20.4 Ma Miocene	20.4 Ma Miocene
Mesocetus hungaricus ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		2	13.8 Ma Miocene	13.7 Ma Miocene
Mesocetus longirostris ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		5	16.0 Ma Miocene	11.6 Ma Miocene
Mesocetus siphunculus ✝ species	accepted (GBIF) listed (PBDB)		8	20.4 Ma Miocene	13.8 Ma Miocene

Obsolete Names

Name	Source	Taxon Rank	Taxonomy
Mesocetus pinguis Van Beneden, 1880	GBIF	species	Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Cetacea : Tranatocetidae : Mesocetus : *Mesocetus pinguis*

Synonymy List

Year	Name and Author
1868	Mesocetus pinguis Van Beneden and Gervais
1874	Mesocetus pinguis Vanden Broeck p. 146
1880	Mesocetus pinguis Van Beneden
1880	Mesocetus Van Beneden p. 22
1880	Mesocetus pinguis Van Beneden p. 23
1892	Mesocetus Gorjanovic-Kramberger p. 15
1898	Mesocetus Trouessart p. 1075
1898	Mesocetus pinguis Trouessart p. 1076
1902	Mesocetus Hay p. 600
1904	Mesocetus Palmer p. 413
1904	Mesocetus Trouessart p. 781
1904	Mesocetus pinguis Trouessart p. 781
1925	Mesocetus Zittel p. 88
1928	Mesocetus Kellogg p. 35 figs. Table 1
1930	Mesocetus Hay p. 571
1937	Mesocetus Pia p. 389

Year	Name and Author
1938	Mesocetus pinguis Abel p. 5
1944	Mesocetus Kellogg p. 454
1945	Mesocetus Simpson p. 104
1952	Mesocetus Sherman p. 99
1987	Mesocetus Pilleri p. 77
1988	Mesocetus Carroll
1993	Mesocetus Paunovic p. 4
1994	Mesocetus Gottfried et al. p. 233
1997	Mesocetus McKenna and Bell p. 376
2002	Mesocetus Sepkoski, Jr.
2008	Mesocetus Uhen et al. p. 615
2008	Mesocetus Whitmore and Barnes p. 144
2015	Mesocetus Gol'din and Steeman p. 6
2016	Mesocetus Marx et al. p. 110
2017	Mesocetus Berta p. 168

References

Van Beneden P. J. Les mysticetes a courts fanons des sables des environs d'anvers, Bulletins de L'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique 1880, 11-27

Van Beneden P. J., Gervais P. , Ostéographie des cétacés vivants et fossiles, comprenant la description et l'iconographie du squelette et du système dentaire de ces animaux; ainsi que des documents relatifs à leur histoire naturelle, 1-634

Vanden Broeck E. Esquisse Geologique & paleontologique des depots Pliocenes des Environs d'Anvers, Memoires de la Societe Malacologiques de Belgique 9, 87-374

Gorjanovic-Kramberger D. O fosilnih cetaceih hrvatske i kranjske, Rad. Jugoslavenske Akademije Znanosti i Umjetnosti 111, 1-21

Trouessart E. L. , Catalogus mammalium tam viventium quam fossilum 5, 665-1264

Hay O. P. (1902) , Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America. Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey 179, 1-868

Palmer T. S. (1904) Index generum mammalium: a list of the genera and families of mammals, North American Fauna 23, 1-984

Trouessart E. L. (1904) , Catalogus Mammalium Tam Viventium Quam Fossilium, Fourth Edition, 1-929

Hay O. P. (1930) Second Bibliography and Catalogue of the Fossil Vertebrata of North America, Carnegie Institution of Washington 390 II, 1-1074

Abel O. (1938) Vorlaeufige mitteilungen ueber die revision der fossilen mystacoceten aus dem Tertiaer Belgiens, Bulletin du Musee royal d'Histoire naturelle de Belgique 14 1, 1-34

Kellogg R. (1944) Fossil Cetaceans from the Florida Tertiary, Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College XCIV 9, 433-471

Simpson G. G. (1945) The principles of classification and a classification of mammals, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 85, 1-350

Sherman H. B. (1952) A list and bibliography of the mammals of Florida, living and extinct, Quarterly Journal of the Florida Academy of Sciences 15 2, 86-126

Pilleri G. (1987) , The Cetacea of the Italian Pliocene, 1-160

Carroll R. L. (1988) , Vertebrate Paleontology and Evolution, 1-698

Paunovic M. (1993) Mesocetus aff. agrami (Mysticeti, Cetotheriidae) iz srednjomicenskih naslaga sjeverne bosne, Rad Hrvatske Akademiji Znanosti i Umjetnosti Prirodne Znanosti 26, 1-11

McKenna M. C., Bell S. K. (1997) , Classification of Mammals Above the Species Level, 1-640

Sepkoski, Jr. J. J. (2002) A compendium of fossil marine animal genera, Bulletins of American Paleontology 363, 1-560

Uhen M. D., Fordyce R. E., et al (2008) Mysticeti, Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America II, 607-628

Whitmore F. C., Barnes L. G. (2008) The Herpetocetinae, a new subfamily of extinct baleen whales (Mammalia, Cetacea, Cetotheriidae), Virginia Museum of Natural History Special Publication 14, 141-180

Gol'din P., Steeman M. E. (2015) From problem taxa to problem solver: A new Miocene family, Tranatocetidae, brings perspective on baleen whale evolution, PLoS One 10 9, e0135500 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0135500

Marx F. G., Lambert O., et al (2016) Cetacean Paleobiology, 1-319

Berta A. (2017) , The Rise of Marine Mammals: 50 Million Years of Evolution, 1-198

Bull. Acad. Belgique, (2) 50 - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Nomenclator Zoologicus. A list of the names of genera and subgenera in zoology from the tenth edition of Linnaeus, 1758 to the end of 2004. Digitised by uBio from vols. 1-9 of Neave (ed.), 1939-1996 plus supplementary digital-only volume. http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus (as at 2006). - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Sepkoski, J. J., Jr. (2002). A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. Bulletins of American Paleontology. 363, 1-560. - via The Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera

Data courtesy of: PBDB: The Paleobiology Database, Creative Commons CC-BY licenced. , GBIF: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, various licences, iDigBio, various licences, and EOL: The Encyclopedia of Life (Open Data Public Domain). Because fossils are made of minerals too!

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