Cephalotropis Temporal range:
Miocene,
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Scientific 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.
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.
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]