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Remingtonocetus harudiensis

Mammalia - Cetacea - Remingtonocetidae

Taxonomy
Protocetus harudiensis was named by Sahni and Mishra (1975). Its type specimen is LUVP 11037, a partial skeleton, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Harudi, which is in a Lutetian shallow subtidal mudstone in the Harudi Formation of India.

It was recombined as Remingtonocetus harudiensis by Kumar and Sahni (1986), Bajpai and Thewissen (1998), Thewissen et al. (2001), Gingerich et al. (2001), van Vliet (2004), McLeod and Barnes (2008), Bajpai et al. (2011), Gingerich (2012), Cooper et al. (2014) and Chakraborty and Sengupta (2023).

Synonymy list
YearName and author
1975Protocetus harudiensis Sahni and Mishra p. 21
1986Remingtonocetus harudiensis Kumar and Sahni p. 330 figs. Fig. 3-10
1998Remingtonocetus harudiensis Bajpai and Thewissen p. 215
2001Remingtonocetus harudiensis Gingerich et al. p. 289
2001Remingtonocetus harudiensis Thewissen et al. p. 351 figs. Table 1
2004Remingtonocetus harudiensis van Vliet p. 143
2008Remingtonocetus harudiensis McLeod and Barnes p. 93
2011Remingtonocetus harudiensis Bajpai et al. p. 703
2012Remingtonocetus harudiensis Gingerich p. 313 figs. Figure 4
2014Remingtonocetus harudiensis Cooper et al. p. 91
2023Remingtonocetus harudiensis Chakraborty and Sengupta p. 515

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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
familyRemingtonocetidae
subfamilyRemingtonocetinae
genusRemingtonocetus
speciesharudiensis()

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.

Remingtonocetus harudiensis Sahni and Mishra 1975
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Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
S. Chakraborty and D. P. Sengupta 2023The original diagnosis given by Kumar and Sahni (1986) says that this species has an elongated skull and attenuated rostrum with the dis- tal portion bent downwards from the posterior of the sec- ond incisor; flattened forehead with posteriorly prolonged frontals, small orbits enclosed by the lacrimal and jugal antero-ventrally and enlarged nasals extending posteriorly. They have single-rooted P1, double rooted P2 and P3, and triple rooted P4-M3 having posterior roots fused, closed series from P4-M3 and similarly sized P1 and P2. It has a flattened occipital shield with vertically bounded nuchal crests prolonged posteriorly, large peribullar and pterygoid sinuses, distinct olfactory lobes, nuchal tubercles over the foramen magnum, and small periotic (Kumar and Sahni, 1986). The new specimen, ISI M1, has most of the above characters wherever the relevant portions the skull are pre- served, and it also offers some additional data to diagnose R. harudiensis. The external nares show a two-headed ridge-like structure externally. M1 and M2 (upper jaw molars) were previously said to be bicuspid but the present study shows that while M2 is bicuspid, M1 and M3 can be either monocuspid or bicuspid. The nasal bones above the molars can have a domed structure and not just a flat nasal. The length range of the skull is not limited to 85 cm; they can have a larger size than suggested previously. The fossa anterior to the orbit, as present in IITR-SB 2770, may not be present in all individuals.