Chonecetus
Name:
Chonecetus
(Funnel whale).
Phonetic: Chon-e-see-tus.
Named By: L. S. Russel - 1968.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Cetacea,
Aetiocetidae.
Species: C. sookensis
(type).
Diet: Uncertain.
Size: Skull about 40 centimetres long.
Known locations: Canada, British Columbia -
Sooke Formation, and the USA, Washington - Pysht Formation.
Time period: Chattian of the Oligocene.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skulls and
partial post cranial remains.
Chonecetus
is a whale genus that is usually attributed to the Aetiocetidae a group
of primitive ancestors of Baleen whales. There has however been
speculation that Chonecetus might be a member of
the Archaeoceti, a
more ancient group of toothed predatory whales that included genera
such as Dorudon
and Basilosaurus.
If the latter interpretation turns
out to be correct, then Chonecetus would actually
be a very late
surviving member of this group.
A
former species of Chonecetues, C. goedertorum, has now been moved into
the Fucaia
genus.
Further reading
- A new cetacean from the Oligocene Sooke Formation of Vancouver
Island, British Colombia. - Canadian Journal of Earth Science
5:929-933 - L. S. Russel - 1968.
- Classification and distribution of Oligocene Aetiocetidae
(Mammalia; Cetacea; Mysticeti) from western North America and
Japan
- The Island Arc 3(4):392-431 - L. G. Barnes, M.
Kimura, H. Furusawa & H. Sawamura - 1995.
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