Name:
Carolinacetus
(Carolina whale - After the state of South Carolina).
Phonetic: Cah-roe-ly-nah-see-tus.
Named By: J. H. Geisler, A. E. Sanders
& Z. Luo - 2005.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Cetacea,
Archaeoceti, Protocetidae.
Species: C. gingerichi
(type).
Diet: Carnivore/Piscivore.
Size: Total size of the holotype skull estimated
about 1 meter long. Tota size of the body unknown.
Known locations: USA, South Carolina, Berkeley
County - Tupelo Bay Formation.
Time period: Bartonian of the Eocene.
Fossil representation: Partial skull, mandibles
and post cranial remains including ribs and vertebrae.
Carolinacetus is a genus of protocetid whale known to have lived around what is now South Carolina during the later half of the Eocene. Carolinacetus appears to have been slightly larger than other protocetids such as Georgiacetus, while also being one of the more primitive protocetid genera known from North America.
Further reading
- A new protocetid whale (Cetacea: Archaeoceti) from the late
middle Eocene of South Carolina. - American Museum Novitates
3480:1-65 - J. H. Geisler, A. E. Sanders & Z.
Luo - 2005.
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