Aetiocetus

Name: Aetiocetus‭ (‬Original whale‭)‬.
Phonetic: Ay-tee-oh-see-tuss.
Named By: Douglas Emlong‭ ‬-‭ ‬1966.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Cetacea,‭ ‬Mysticeti,‭ ‬Aetiocetidae.
Species: A.‭ ‬cotylalveus‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬polydentatus,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬tomitai,‭ ‬A.‭ ‬weltoni.
Type: Carnivore/Filter Feeder.
Size: Roughly up to 5.5-6 meters long, but total size depends upon species.
Known locations: USA,‭ ‬Oregon‭ ‬-‭ ‬Yaquina Formation.
Time period: Oligocene‭ ‬of the Palaeogene.
Fossil representation: Almost complete skulls and partial post cranial remains,‭ ‬identifying four species so far.




       Aetiocetus is an important transitional form as it displays the early origins of the baleen whales,‭ ‬while still retaining teeth that can be identified as incisors,‭ ‬canines and molars like many other mammals.‭ ‬Later descendants would go on to become exclusive filter feeders like many of the modern great whales that swim our oceans today.

Further reading
- A new archaic cetacean from the Oligocene of Northwest Oregon. - Bulletin of the Museum of Natural History, University of Oregon 3:1-51. - D. Emlong - 1966.
- Skull anatomy of the Oligocene toothed mysticete Aetioceus weltoni (Mammalia; Cetacea): implications for mysticete evolution and functional anatomy. - Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 154 (2). - T. A. Dem�r� & A. Berta - 2008.



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