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Pachycetus humilis
Taxonomy
Pachycetus humilis was named by Van Beneden (1883) [According to Rothausen (1986), footnote 6, the holotype specimen was in the Zwinger Musueum, Dresden, and probably destroyed during WWII. This appears to be wrong and the specimen still exists.]. It is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Helmstedt, which is in a Bartonian/Priabonian marine sandstone in the Gehlberg Formation of Germany.
It was considered an invalid subgroup of Basilosauridae by Gingerich et al. (2022); it was considered a nomen dubium by Kuhn (1935); it was considered a nomen dubium by Uhen and Pyenson (2007); it was considered a nomen nudum by van Vliet et al. (2020).
It was considered an invalid subgroup of Basilosauridae by Gingerich et al. (2022); it was considered a nomen dubium by Kuhn (1935); it was considered a nomen dubium by Uhen and Pyenson (2007); it was considered a nomen nudum by van Vliet et al. (2020).
Sister species lacking formal opinion data
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1883 | Pachycetus humilis Geinitz p. 105 |
| 1883 | Pachycetus humilis Van Beneden |
| 1898 | Pachycetus humilis Trouessart p. 1084 |
| 1904 | Pachycetus humilis Trouessart p. 784 |
| 1940 | Pachycetus humilis Wetmore p. 72 |
| 1986 | Pachycetus humilis Rothausen p. 517 |
| 2004 | Pachycetus humilis van Vliet p. 143 |
| 2025 | Pachycetus humilis van Vliet et al. p. 216 |
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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.
†Pachycetus humilis Van Beneden 1883
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Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| H. J. van Vliet et al. 2025 | Cervical vertebrae, like those of P. paulsonii, relatively longer than in derived basilosaurids, but smaller in size than those of P. paulsonii. Post-cervical vertebrae similar in shape to those of P. paulsonii, but differing in being smaller, in the absence of a compact cortex, in having fewer or no punctae and less pachyostosis of pedicles of the neural arches. Posterior thoracic, and probably also lumbar vertebrae with a clear ventral median ridge and on each side a second ridge more laterally. |
Measurements
No measurements are available
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| Source: o = order | |||||
| Reference: Uhen 2004 | |||||