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Taxonomy
Angelocetus cursiensis was named by Peri et al. (2022). Its type specimen is MSNUP I-16954, a partial skull, and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Cursi, near, which is in a Burdigalian marine lime mudstone in Italy. It is the type species of Angelocetus.
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 2022 | Angelocetus cursiensis Peri et al. p. 191 figs. Figs. 2-7 |
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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.
†Angelocetus cursiensis Peri et al. 2022
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| E. Peri et al. 2022 | Angelocetus cursiensis n. gen. n. sp. is unambiguously recognized as a member of Physeteroidea due to its broad supracranial basin and strongly asymmetric external bony nares. It differs from members of the family Kogiidae by the absence of a sagittal facial crest. Angelocetus cursiensis n. gen. n. sp. differs from all other extinct and extant non-kogiid physeteroids known to date by virtue of its strongly eccentric supracranial basin, which is markedly shifted posterolaterally toward its left side. It is further diagnosed by the following character combination: rostrum elongated (rostral length/condylobasal length 0.62 or higher), supracranial basin extended onto the rostrum, maximum width of the cranium comprised between 400 mm and 600 mm (estimated bizygomatic width about 550 mm), antorbital notches located outside the supracranial basin, two large right dorsal infraorbital foramina occurring close to the corresponding antorbital notch, presence of a single nasal, supracranial basin not extending onto the right orbit, right premaxilla reaching the sagittal plane on the posterior wall of the supracranial basin, frontal/maxilla suture forming an angle between 15° and 35° (25°-32° on the retrodeformed model) in lateral view posterior to the antorbital notch, postglenoid process of the squamosal more ventrally developed than the posttympanic process, absence of a wide notch posterior to the postglenoid process, occipital shield almost flat, maximum tooth diameter smaller than 5% of the maximum cranium width, presence of an unornamented enamelled crown, mandibular condyle placed slightly posterodorsal to the angular process, and dorsal margin of the temporal fossa much lower than the cranial vertex.
Angelocetus cursiensis n. gen. n. sp. differs from the closely related physeteroids Diaphorocetus poucheti, Orycterocetus crocodilinus, Placoziphius duboisi and Thalassocetus antwerpiensis by the postglenoid process being more ventrally developed than the posttympanic process. Moreover, A. cursiensis n. gen. n. sp. differs from O. crocodilinus and Thalassocetus spp. by having a right dorsal infraorbital foramen piercing the floor of the supracranial basin and an anteroposteriorly longer temporal fossa (about 60% of the neurocranium length, versus 45%-48% in O. crocodilinus and 37% in Thalassocetus spp.); from D. poucheti and O. crocodilinus by the larger teeth (average maximum width 17.1 mm, versus 10.3 mm in D. poucheti and 8.9 mm in O. crocodilinus); from O. crocodilinus by the enamelled dental crown and the absence of a large dorsal infraorbital foramen piercing the right margin of the supracranial basin; from D. poucheti by the neurocranium not dorsoventrally flattened, the antorbital notch not reduced to a narrow slit, and the roughly rectangular paroccipital process (triangular in D. poucheti); from P. duboisi by having a wide right dorsal infraorbital foramen bordering the lateral margin of the supracranial basin; from Thalassocetus by the wider skull and the convex suture between the right maxilla and nasal (concave in Thalassocetus). |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: subo = suborder, o = order | |||||
| Reference: Uhen 2004 | |||||
Age range: Burdigalian or 20.44000 to 15.97000 Ma
Collections: one only
| Time interval | Ma | Country or state | Original ID and collection number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burdigalian | Italy | Angelocetus cursiensis (type locality: 52152) |