Indocetus

In-doe-see-tus.
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Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Indocetus ‭(‬India whale‭)‬.

Phonetic

In-doe-see-tus.

Named By

A.‭ ‬Sahni‭ & ‬V.‭ ‬P.‭ ‬Mishra‭ ‬-‭ ‬1975.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Cetacea,‭ ‬Archaeoceti,‭ ‬Protocetidae.

Diet

Carnivore/Piscivore.

Species

I.‭ ‬ramani‭

Size

Unknown due to lack of remains.

Known locations

India‭ ‬-‭ ‬Harudi Formation

Time Period

Lutetian of the Eocene.

Fossil representation

Partial skull.

In Depth

       Indocetus is a genus of protocetid whale that was first name from the discovery of a partial skull from the‭ ‬Harudi Formation of India in‭ ‬1975.‭ ‬In‭ ‬1993‭ ‬new whale fossils from the Domanda Formation of Pakistan were added to the Indocetus genus,‭ ‬and this was a significant development since these were the first post cranial remains attributed to the genus.‭ ‬However a subsequent study in‭ ‬1995‭ ‬came to the conclusion that these post cranial remains actually belonged to the genus Remingtoncetus.‭ ‬The result of this is that Indocetus is still only known from partial skull material from India,‭ ‬though further isolated post cranial remains from the Harudi Formation have been considered to potentially belong to that Indocetus.

       As a member of the Protocetidae,‭ ‬Indocetus would have been related to genera such as Babiacetus,‭ ‬Eocetus and of course the type genus of the group Protocetus.‭ ‬The closest known relative of Indocetus though is the genus Rodhocetus,‭ ‬with the teeth of both of these genera being single rooted.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬Lower Tertiary vertebrates from western India‭ ‬-‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Sahni‭ & ‬V.‭ ‬P.‭ ‬Mishra‭ ‬-‭ ‬1975. -‭ ‬Partial skeletons of Indocetus ramani‭ (‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Cetacea‭) ‬from the lower middle Eocene Domanda Shale in the Sulaiman Range of Punjab‭ (‬Pakistan‭) ‬-‭ ‬Philip D.‭ ‬Gingerich,‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Mahmood Raza,‭ ‬Muhammad Arif‭ ‬,‭ ‬Muhammad Anwar‭ & ‬Xiaoyuan Zhou‭ ‬-‭ ‬1993. -‭ ‬New Archaeocetes‭ (‬Mammalia,‭ ‬Cetacea‭) ‬from the middle Eocene Domanda Formation of the Sulaiman Range,‭ ‬Punjab‭ (‬Pakistan‭). – ‬Philip D.‭ ‬Gingerich,‭ ‬Muhammad Arif,‭ ‬William C.‭ ‬Clyde‭ ‬-‭ ‬1995. -‭ ‬Synopsis of the Earliest Cetaceans:‭ ‬Pakicetidae,‭ ‬Ambulocetidae,‭ ‬Remingtonocetidae,‭ ‬and Protocetidae‭ ‬-‭ ‬Ellen Williams‭ ‬-‭ ‬1998. -‭ ‬Middle Eocene Cetaceans from the Harudi and Subathu Formations of India‭ ‬-‭ ‬S.‭ ‬Bajpai‭ & ‬J.‭ ‬G.‭ ‬M.‭ ‬Thewissen‭ ‬-‭ ‬1998.

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