Willungacetus
Extinct genus of mammals / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Willungacetus is an extinct genus of primitive baleen whale of the family Aetiocetidae known from the Oligocene of Australia (at Port Willunga, 35.3°S 138.5°E / -35.3; 138.5, paleocoordinates 52.9°S 133.7°E / -52.9; 133.7).[1][2] It is the oldest-known whale from Australia,[3] and the only aetiocetid whale currently known from the Southern Hemisphere.
Willungacetus | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Infraorder: | Cetacea |
Family: | †Aetiocetidae (?) |
Genus: | †Willungacetus Pledge 2005 |
Species | |
†W. aldingensis |
Neville S. Pledge first visited the type locality in 1983 and collected two boulders. These two rocks, however, were forgotten until 2001 when a partial vertebra were discovered within. The site was subsequently revisited and another specimen, a partial cranium, was discovered. Pledge referred a radius, collected from the same cliff in 1994, to his newly named species.[4]
Pledge provisionally assigned Willungacetus to Aetiocetidae, but this assignment still needs to be confirmed.[5]