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Mirocetus
Taxonomy
Mirocetus was named by Mchedlidze (1970) [Sepkoski's age data: T Ol-u Sepkoski's reference number: 746,1022]. It was considered monophyletic by Mchedlidze (1970).
It was assigned to Patriocetidae by Mchedlidze (1970); to Aetiocetidae by Mchedlidze (1976); to Autoceta by McKenna and Bell (1997); to Cetacea by Whitmore and Sanders (1977), Barnes (1985), Carroll (1988), Sepkoski (2002); to Odontoceti by Fordyce (1981), Fordyce (2002), Geisler and Sanders (2003), Uhen (2005); to Mirocetidae by Sanders and Geisler (2015), Marx et al. (2016), Berta (2017); and to Xenorophidae by Velez-Juarbe (2023).
It was assigned to Patriocetidae by Mchedlidze (1970); to Aetiocetidae by Mchedlidze (1976); to Autoceta by McKenna and Bell (1997); to Cetacea by Whitmore and Sanders (1977), Barnes (1985), Carroll (1988), Sepkoski (2002); to Odontoceti by Fordyce (1981), Fordyce (2002), Geisler and Sanders (2003), Uhen (2005); to Mirocetidae by Sanders and Geisler (2015), Marx et al. (2016), Berta (2017); and to Xenorophidae by Velez-Juarbe (2023).
Species
Entered
by J. Sepkoski on 2003-01-23; modified by M. Uhen on 2015-05-27
Synonymy list
| Year | Name and author |
|---|---|
| 1970 | Mirocetus Mchedlidze p. 47 |
| 1976 | Mirocetus Mchedlidze p. 7 |
| 1977 | Mirocetus Whitmore and Sanders p. 305 |
| 1981 | Mirocetus Fordyce p. 1041 |
| 1985 | Mirocetus Barnes p. 91 |
| 1988 | Mirocetus Carroll |
| 1997 | Mirocetus McKenna and Bell p. 371 |
| 2002 | Mirocetus Fordyce p. 218 |
| 2002 | Mirocetus Sepkoski |
| 2003 | Mirocetus Geisler and Sanders p. 28 |
| 2005 | Mirocetus Uhen p. 1042 |
| 2015 | Mirocetus Sanders and Geisler p. 5 figs. Figs. 6-9 |
| 2016 | Mirocetus Marx et al. p. 117 |
| 2017 | Mirocetus Berta p. 160 |
| 2023 | Mirocetus Velez-Juarbe pp. 49-50 figs. Figure 21 |
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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.
Diagnosis
| Reference | Diagnosis | |
|---|---|---|
| L. G. Barnes 1985 | This opinion is implied rather than clearly stated. Barnes (1985) states that Mirocetus is "removed from the Aeitocetidae" and it is from a "tooth-bearing" whale. | |
| A. E. Sanders and J. H. Geisler 2015 | Supraorbital processes roof over ante- rior parts of temporal fossae, which are broadly covered by ascending processes of maxillae. Postorbital process is elongate and robust. External bony nares situated well anterior to the supraorbital region, antorbital notch is obtuse, infraorbital plate of maxilla present and bears two teeth, parietals form most of the dorsal and lateral portions of the braincase and bear a promi- nent sagittal crest, apex of supraoccipital is pointed in dorsal view, and maxilla has four upper double-rooted teeth. Differs from archaeocetes and all known toothed and baleen-bearing mysticetes in having supraorbital processes of frontals covered by maxillae; differs from all known mysticetes and odontocetes in having a dentulous infraorbital plate of the maxilla as in archaeocetes; differs from Simocetus in having pronounced sagit- tal crest, a triangular supraoccipital in dorsal view, and relatively larger teeth; differs from Xenorophidae in lacking expansion of lacrimal onto supraorbital process of frontal and in maxilla directly articulating with frontal posterior to nasal region; differs from Archaeodelphis and Agorophius in having parietals with prominent sagittal crest instead of parietals tabular and without sagittal crest as in the latter taxa; and differs from Agorophius in having nasal opening anterior to supraorbital processes. |