Mauicetus

Name: Mauicetus.
Phonetic: Mow-e-se-tus.
Named By: W.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬Benham‭ ‬-‭ ‬1937.
Synonyms: Lophocephalus parki.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Cetacea,‭ ‬Mysticeti,‭ ‬Balaenopteridae‭?
Species: M.‭ ‬parki‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Unavailable.
Known locations: New Zealand‭ ‬-‭ ‬Kokoamu Greensand Formation.
Time period: Oligocene.
Fossil representation: Partial remains of a few individuals.

       When Mauicetus was first named it was originally as Lophocephalus.‭ ‬However this name had already been used to name a genus of beetle.‭ ‬Under international rules governing the naming of animals,‭ ‬the first use has priority,‭ ‬so the fossils of this whale were renamed Mauicetus.‭ ‬Mauicetus lived in the waters around the Pacific during the Oligocene.‭ ‬A former species,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬waitakiensis,‭ ‬has now been re-assigned to Tohoraata,‭ ‬while another species,‭ ‬M.‭ ‬lophocephalus,‭ ‬has been moved to Tokarahia.

Further reading
-‭ ‬On Lophocephalus,‭ ‬a new genus of zeuglodont Cetacea.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand‭ ‬67‭(‬1‭)‬:1-7.‭ ‬-‭ ‬W.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬Benham‭ ‬-‭ ‬1937.
-‭ ‬Mauicetus:‭ ‬a Fossil Whale.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Nature‭ ‬143‭(‬3627‭)‬:765.‭ ‬-‭ ‬W.‭ ‬B.‭ ‬Benham‭ ‬-‭ ‬1939.
-‭ ‬A new eomysticetid‭ (‬Mammalia:‭ ‬Cetacea‭) ‬from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand and re-evaluation of‭ '‬Mauicetus‭' ‬waitakiensis.‭ ‬-‭ ‬R.‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Boessenecker‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬E.‭ ‬Fordyce‭ ‬-‭ ‬2014.
-‭ ‬A new genus and species of eomysticetid‭ (‬Cetacea:‭ ‬Mysticeti‭) ‬and a reinterpretation of‭ ‘‬Mauicetus‭’ ‬lophocephalus Marples,‭ ‬1956:‭ ‬Transitional baleen whales from the upper Oligocene of New Zealand.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society.‭ ‬-‭ ‬R.‭ ‬W.‭ ‬Boessenecker‭ & ‬R.‭ ‬Ewan Fordyce‭ ‬-‭ ‬2015.



----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Random favourites