Mirocetus

Mirocetus is a genus of archaic odontocete from the late Oligocene (Chattian) of Azerbaijan. Like many other primitive odontocetes, its classification has been fluid since its description.

Mirocetus Temporal range: Late Oligocene, 28.4–23.0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Life restoration
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Whippomorpha
Infraorder:	Cetacea
Family:	†Xenorophidae
Genus:	†Mirocetus Mchedlidze, 1970
Species:	†M. riabinini
Binomial name
†Mirocetus riabinini Mchedlidze, 1970

Classification

Mirocetus riabinini is based on a skull from late Oligocene (Chattian) deposits in Azerbaijan. Although originally assigned to Patriocetidae in the original description, it was later assigned to the mysticete family Aetiocetidae by Mchedlidze (1976). Fordyce (1981, 2002) treated Mirocetus as Odontoceti incertae sedis in recognition of its primitiveness, and a 2015 paper by Albert Sanders and Jonathan Geisler recognized the genus as sufficiently distinct from other basal odontocete families to warrant its own family, Mirocetidae. However, a cladistic analysis of Olympicetus by Velez-Juarbe (2017) recovers Mirocetus as a member of Xenorophidae, rendering Mirocetidae a synonym of Xenorophidae.^[1][2][3][4]