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Cephalotropis
Temporal range: Miocene, 10–9  Ma
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Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: Cetotheriidae
Genus: Cephalotropis
Cope, 1896
Species

C. coronatus Cope, 1896 ( type)

Cephalotropis is a genus of baleen whale belonging to the extinct family Cetotheriidae. Its type species is Cephalotropis coronatus.

Description

Cephalotropis is diagnosed by the following features: a long sagittal crest, a more anteriorly produced angle of the supraoccipital angle, among other features. [1] There is insufficient information to determine how big Cephalotropis was, but it probably grew to about 16–20 feet long.

Taxonomy

Cephalotropis coronatus was originally described from the Late Miocene ( Tortonian) St. Mary's Formation of St. Mary's Formation, Maryland, based on the holotype USNM 9352. [2] A second species of the genus, C. nectus, was named for a specimen from a Tortonian-aged formation in Portugal, [3] but is now considered a junior synonym of C. coronatus. [4]

References

  1. ^ Case, E. C., 1904. Systematic Paleontology, Miocene, Mammalia, in Clark, W. B., Shattuck, G. B., and Dall, W. H., The Miocene
  2. ^ E. D. Cope. 1896. Sixth contribution to the knowledge of the marine Miocene fauna of North America. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 35(150):139-146
  3. ^ R. Kellogg. 1940. On the cetotheres figured by Vandelli. Boletime do Labrotorio Mineralogico e Geologico da Universidade de Lisboa 3(7-8):13-23
  4. ^ P. Mocho and L. Povons. 2010. Contribucao para revisao sistematica de um cranio de Cephalotropis Cope, 1896 (Cetacea: Cetotheriidae) do Miocenico superior (Tortoniano inferior) da Adica (Sesimbra, Portugal). Jornadas de la Sociedad Espanola do Paleontologia Lisboa, Portugal 26:180-183