Orycterocetus crocodilinus Cope 1867 (sperm whale)

Mammalia - Cetacea - Physeteridae

Synonym: Gargantuodon ligerensis Ginsburg 1969

Full reference: E. D. Cope. 1867. An addition to the vertebrate fauna of the Miocene period, with a synopsis of the extinct Cetacea of the United States. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 19(4):138-157

Belongs to Orycterocetus according to J. Velez-Juarbe et al. 2015

See also Cope 1867, Ginsburg 1969, Ginsburg and Janvier 1971, Godfrey and Lambert 2023, Gottfried et al. 1994, Hastings and Dooley 2017, Hay 1902, Kazár 2002, Kellogg 1942, Kellogg 1965, Lambert 2008, Leidy 1869 and Uhen et al. 2008

Sister taxa: Orycterocetus cornutidens, Orycterocetus quadratidens

Type specimens:

  • Orycterocetus crocodilinus: ANSP 9126, a tooth. Its type locality is Wakefield, west, Zone 12-13, which is in a Langhian estuary/bay claystone in the Calvert Formation of Virginia.
  • Gargantuodon ligerensis: Its type locality is Pontigne 4 (marine), which is in a Langhian marginal marine sandstone in France.

Ecology: aquatic piscivore-carnivore

Distribution:

• Miocene of Belgium (1 collection), France (6), United States (13: Maryland, Virginia)

Total: 20 collections each including a single occurrence

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Specimen images are retrieved through the ePANDDA API.


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