Name:
Titanocetus
(Titano whale - named after Monte Titano).
Phonetic: Ty-tan-o-see-tus.
Named By: M. Bisconti - 2006.
Synonyms: Aulocetus sammarinensis.
Classification: Chordata, Mammalia, Cetacea,
Mysticeti, Thalassotherii, Cetotheriidae.
Species: T. sammarinensis
(type).
Diet: Carnivore - Filter feeder.
Size: Skull about 1 meter long, total body
length estimated to be about 6 meters long.
Known locations: San Marino.
Time period: Serravalian of the Miocene.
Fossil representation: Skull.
Titanocetus
is a genus of baleen whale
that lived in waters around Europe during
the Miocene. As a member of the Cetotheriidae whales, Titanocetus
would have been related to genera such as Cetotherium.
There is a
popular misconception that the name Titanocetus
means ‘Titan whale’
in reference to a large size, and indeed this is often the case
(i.e. Titanosaurus,
Titanoceratops,
Titanoboa,
etc). The
titan part of Titanocetus however is actually a
reference to Monte
Titano (Mount Titan), which is a mountain peak in San Marino near
where the holotype fossils of Titanocetus were
first found.
Predatory
threats to Titanocetus likely included predatory
toothed whales as well
as colossal mega-toothed sharks
such as the infamous C.
megalodon.
Further reading
- Balenottera miocenica della Repubblica di San Marino. - Atti
della Reale Accademia dei Lincei 5:233-235. - G. Capellini -
1900.
- Balenottera miocenica del Monte Titano Repubblica di S. Marino.
- Memorie della Regia Accademia delle Scienze all'Istituto di
Bologna 5:237-260. - G. Capellini - 1901.
- Titanocetus, a new baleen whale from the Middle Miocene of
northern Italy (Mammalia, Cetacea, Mysticeti). - Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology, 26(2):344-354. - M. Bisconti -
2006.