Mauicetus

Mauicetus; Temporal range: Late Oligocene. 24.2–23.6 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Balaenopteridae (?)
Genus:	†Mauicetus; Benham, 1939
Type species
	†Lophocephalus parki; Benham, 1937
Synonyms
	Lophocephalus Benham, 1937

Mauicetus is a genus of extinct baleen whale from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand.

Taxonomy

Mauicetus was originally named Lophocephalus by William Benham, but that name was already used for a beetle, and Benham provided the replacement name Mauicetus.^[1]^[2] Three more species were named in 1956: M. brevicollis, M. lophocephalus, and M. waitakiensis.^[3] Nowadays, Mauicetus parki is considered a stem-balaenopteroid, while M. lophocephalus and M. waitakiensis have been reclassified in Eomysticetidae, with M. lophocephalus and M. waitakiensis being assigned to Tokarahia and Tohoraata.^[4]^[5]^[6]

References

^ W. B. Benham. 1937. 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. 1939. Mauicetus: a Fossil Whale. Nature 143(3627):765
^ B. J. Marples. 1956. Cetotheres (Cetacea) from the Oligocene of New Zealand. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 126(4):565-580
^ Robert W. Boessenecker and R. Ewan Fordyce (2014). "A new Eomysticetid (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand and a re-evaluation of ‘Mauicetus’ waitakiensis". Papers in Palaeontology. in press. doi:10.1002/spp2.1005.
^ STEEMAN, M. E. 2007. Cladistic analysis and a revised classification of fossil and recent mysticetes. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 150, 875–894.
^ Robert W. Boessenecker and R. Ewan Fordyce (2015). "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. in press. doi:10.1111/zoj.12297.

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[1] W. B. Benham. 1937. On Lophocephalus, a new genus of zeuglodont Cetacea. Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 67(1):1-7

[2] W. B. Benham. 1939. Mauicetus: a Fossil Whale. Nature 143(3627):765

[3] B. J. Marples. 1956. Cetotheres (Cetacea) from the Oligocene of New Zealand. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 126(4):565-580

[4] Robert W. Boessenecker and R. Ewan Fordyce (2014). "A new Eomysticetid (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Late Oligocene of New Zealand and a re-evaluation of ‘Mauicetus’ waitakiensis". Papers in Palaeontology. in press. doi:10.1002/spp2.1005.

[5] STEEMAN, M. E. 2007. Cladistic analysis and a revised classification of fossil and recent mysticetes. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 150, 875–894.

[6] Robert W. Boessenecker and R. Ewan Fordyce (2015). "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. in press. doi:10.1111/zoj.12297.

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