Idiocetus

Idiocetus ("unique whale") is a genus of extinct cetaceans of the family Balaenidae.^[2]

Idiocetus Temporal range: Tortonian–Piacenzian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Atlas of I. guicciardinii, from Italy
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Whippomorpha
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	Balaenidae
Genus:	†Idiocetus Capellini 1876[1]
Species
I. guicciardinii Capellini 1876

Discovery

Fossils belonging to this genus were first found in Piacenzian (Upper Pliocene) strata near Montopoli in Val d'Arno, a town in Tuscany (central Italy). The Italian paleontologist Giovanni Capellini described the whale in 1876 and attributed it to a new genus and species, establishing the type species Idiocetus guicciardinii. Some decades later, in 1926, other fossil remains possibly belonging to the genus were discovered from the Tortonian (Upper Miocene) of Japan.^[3]