PBDB Taxon

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Mithridatocetus

Mammalia - Cetacea

Taxonomy

Mithridatocetus was named by Goldin and Startsev (2017). Its type is Mithridatocetus eichwaldi.

It was assigned to Cetotheriinae by Goldin and Startsev (2017); and to Cetotheriidae by Gol'din (2018), Torcărescu (2023).

Species

Cetotherium mayeri, M. adygeicus, M. eichwaldi (type species)

Synonyms

Cetotherium mayeri was named by Brandt (1871) [type locality is not listed by Brandt (1871)].

It was corrected as Cetotherium meyeri by Trouessart (1904); it was considered an invalid subgroup of Cetotherium by Gol'din and Steeman (2015); it was considered an invalid subgroup of Mithridatocetus by Goldin and Startsev (2017).

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
1871	Cetotherium mayeri Brandt p. 564 figs. not figured
1873	Cetotherium mayeri Brandt p. 121 figs. Pl. 12, Fig. 2a-c
1898	Cetotherium meyeri Trouessart p. 1070
1904	Cetotherium meyeri Trouessart p. 779
1934	Cetotherium mayeri Riabinin p. 4
1965	Cetotherium mayeri Hofstein p. 26
2009	Cetotherium mayeri Tarasenko and Titov p. 90
2012	Cetotherium mayeri Tarasenko and Lopatin p. 532
2017	Mithridatocetus Goldin and Startsev
2018	Mithridatocetus Gol'din p. 23 figs. Fig. 14
2023	Mithridatocetus Torcărescu p. 271

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Rank	Name	Author
kingdom	Animalia	()
—	Bilateria
—	Eubilateria	Ax 1987
—	Deuterostomia
phylum	Chordata	Haeckel 1874
subphylum	Vertebrata
superclass	Gnathostomata
—	Osteichthyes	()
subclass	Sarcopterygii	()
subclass	Dipnotetrapodomorpha	(Nelson 2006)
subclass	Tetrapodomorpha	()
—	Tetrapoda
—	Reptiliomorpha
—	Anthracosauria
subclass	Amphibiosauria	Kuhn 1967
—	Cotylosauria	()
—	Amniota
subclass	Synapsida
—	Therapsida	()
infraorder	Cynodontia	()
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes

Rank	Name	Author
class	Mammalia
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Euungulata
—	Artiodactylamorpha
—	Artiodactyla	()
—	Whippomorpha
order	Cetacea
—	Pelagiceti
—	Neoceti
suborder	Mysticeti
—	Chaeomysticeti	()
subfamily	Cetotheriidae	()
subfamily	Cetotheriinae
genus	Mithridatocetus

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.

G. †Mithridatocetus Goldin and Startsev 2017

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†Mithridatocetus adygeicus Tarasenko and Lopatin 2012

†Mithridatocetus eichwaldi Goldin and Startsev 2017

Invalid names: Cetotherium mayeri Brandt 1871 [invalid subgroup]

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
P. Goldin and D. Startsev 2017	A whale c. 4–5 m long differing from Mithrida- tocetus adygeicus in having parietals less exposed on the skull vertex, a sharper and longer paroccipital process with a nuchal crest extending as posterior as or posterior to an occipital condyle, a shorter and narrower anterior process of the periotic, a large and anteroposteriorly long pars cochlearis and a tube-like closed facial sulcus.