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Cynthiacetus maxwelli

Mammalia - Cetacea - Basilosauridae

Taxonomy
Cynthiacetus maxwelli was named by Uhen (2005). Its type specimen is MMNS VP 445, a partial skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Cynthia Pit, which is in a Priabonian offshore claystone in the Yazoo Formation of Mississippi.

It was synonymized subjectively with Pontogeneus brachyspondylus by Gingerich (2015).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
2005Cynthiacetus maxwelli Uhen p. 160 figs. 1-7
2008Cynthiacetus maxwelli McLeod and Barnes p. 94
2008Cynthiacetus maxwelli Uhen p. 561
2009Cynthiacetus maxwelli Uhen p. 93
2011Cynthiacetus maxwelli Martinez-Cáceres and Muizon
2011Cynthiacetus maxwelli Schouten p. 18
2013Cynthiacetus maxwelli Uhen p. 10 figs. Figure 6
2017Cynthiacetus maxwelli Martínez-Cáceres et al. p. 16
2018Cynthiacetus maxwelli Uhen

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
RankNameAuthor
—Mammaliaformes
classMammalia
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—Laurasiatheria
—Scrotifera
—Euungulata
—Artiodactylamorpha
—Artiodactyla()
—Whippomorpha
orderCetacea
—Pelagiceti
familyBasilosauridae
genusCynthiacetus
speciesmaxwelli

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

†Cynthiacetus maxwelli Uhen 2005
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
M. D. Uhen 2005Large body size distinguishes Cynthiacetus from other dorudontines. Skull, cervical vertebrae, and anterior thoracic vertebrae are similarin morphology to those of Basilosaurus. The posterior thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, and anterior caudal vertebrae are not elongate, but have proportions similar to other dorudontines, distinguishing Cynthiacetus from Basilosaurus.
M. D. Uhen 2013C. maxwelli differs from C. peruvianus in that it has one more accessory denticle on both the mesial and distal edges of p3 and p4; an anteroposteriorly longer and lower dome-shaped neural arch on the atlas; a proxi- modistally shorter and anteroposteriorly more robust hu- merus, radius and ulna (after Martínez-Cáceres and de Muizon, 2011).
M. Martínez-Cáceres et al. 2017Cynthiacetus maxwelli di ers mainly from C. peruvianus in having one more cusp on both mesial and distal edges on p3 and p4 (5 and 6 denticles respectively in p3 and p4). It also possesses a longer and lower dome-shaped neural arch on the atlas and shorter and more massive humerus, radius and ulna (cf. below).