PBDB Taxon

Basic info	Taxonomic history	Classification	Included Taxa
Morphology	Ecology and taphonomy	External Literature Search	Age range and collections

Chrysocetus

Mammalia - Cetacea - Basilosauridae

Taxonomy

Chrysocetus was named by Uhen and Gingerich (2001). It was considered monophyletic by Uhen (2008), Martinez-Cáceres and Muizon (2011).

It was assigned to Dorudontinae by Uhen and Gingerich (2001), Uhen (2002), van Vliet (2004), Uhen (2004), McLeod and Barnes (2008), Uhen (2008), Uhen (2009), Schouten (2011), Gao and Ni (2015); and to Basilosauridae by Geisler and Sanders (2003), Martinez-Cáceres and Muizon (2011), Uhen (2013), Gingerich and Zouhri (2015), Marx et al. (2016), Martínez-Cáceres et al. (2017), Berta (2017), Uhen (2018).

Species

C. fouadassii, C. healyorum

Synonymy list

Year	Name and author
2001	Chrysocetus Uhen and Gingerich p. 2 figs. 1-10
2002	Chrysocetus Uhen p. 79
2003	Chrysocetus Geisler and Sanders p. 27
2004	Chrysocetus Uhen p. 12
2004	Chrysocetus van Vliet p. 143
2008	Chrysocetus McLeod and Barnes p. 93
2008	Chrysocetus Uhen p. 561
2009	Chrysocetus Uhen p. 93
2011	Chrysocetus Martinez-Cáceres and Muizon
2011	Chrysocetus Schouten p. 18
2013	Chrysocetus Uhen p. 8 figs. Figure 5
2015	Chrysocetus Gao and Ni p. 156 figs. Table 1
2015	Chrysocetus Gingerich and Zouhri p. 278
2016	Chrysocetus Marx et al. p. 101
2017	Chrysocetus Berta p. 159
2017	Chrysocetus Martínez-Cáceres et al. p. 11
2018	Chrysocetus Uhen

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

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	()

Rank	Name	Author
—	Mammaliamorpha
—	Mammaliaformes
class	Mammalia
—	Cladotheria
—	Zatheria
subclass	Tribosphenida	()
subclass	Theria
—	Eutheria	()
—	Placentalia
—	Boreoeutheria
—	Laurasiatheria
—	Scrotifera
—	Euungulata
—	Artiodactylamorpha
—	Artiodactyla	()
—	Whippomorpha
order	Cetacea
—	Pelagiceti
family	Basilosauridae
genus	Chrysocetus

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. †Chrysocetus Uhen and Gingerich 2001

show all | hide all

†Chrysocetus fouadassii Gingerich and Zouhri 2015

†Chrysocetus healyorum Uhen and Gingerich 2001

Diagnosis

Reference	Diagnosis
M. D. Uhen and P. D. Gingerich 2001	Chrysocetus healyorum has features of Dorudontinae (particularly vertebral bodies that lack elongation seen in members of the Basilosauridae) but differs from other Dorudontines in having smooth enamel and lacking vertically ori- ented ornamentation on the upper premolars. In addition, the premolars are more gracile than those of Dorudon, and the upper premolars lack crenulations on the mesial and distal cingula like those of Zygorhiza (Kellogg 1936; see Fig. 1). Based on comparable skeletal elements, C. healyorum was larger than Saghacetus osiris and smaller than Pontogeneus bracbyspondylus.
M. D. Uhen 2004	Chrysocetus has features of Dorudontinae (particularly vertebral bodies that lack elongation seen in members of the Basilosauridae) but differs from other Dorudontines in having smooth enamel and lacking vertically-oriented ornamentation on the upper premolars. In addition, the premolars are more gracile than those of Dorudon, and the upper premolars lack crenulations on the mesial and distal cingula like those of Zygorhiza (Kellogg 1936; see Fig. 1). Based on comparable skeletal elements, Chrysocetus is larger than Saghacetus osiris and smaller than Pontogeneus brachyspondylus.
M. D. Uhen 2008	Chrysocetus is much smaller than both Basilosaurus and Cynthiacetus. In addition, Chrysocetus has smooth enamel on the crowns of the premolars, which distinguishes it from Dorudon and Zygorhiza.
M. D. Uhen 2013	Chrysocetus healyorum has vertebral bodies that lack elongation seen in members of the genus Basi- losaurus. C. healyorum also has very smooth enamel and lacks vertically oriented ornamentation on the upper pre- molars. In addition, the premolars are more gracile than those of Dorudon, and the upper premolars lack crenula- tions on the mesial and distal cingula like those of Zygorhi- za. Based on comparable skeletal elements, C. healyorum was larger than Saghacetus osiris and smaller than mem- bers of the genera Dorudon, Cynthiacetus, and Basilosaurus (after Uhen and Gingerich, 2001).