Pachycetinae
Temporal range:
Holotype skeletal drawing of Perucetus colossus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Infraorder: Cetacea
Family: †Basilosauridae
Subfamily: †Pachycetinae
Gingerich, Amane, & Zouhri, 2022
Genera

Pachycetinae is an extinct subfamily of basilosaurid cetaceans whose fossils have been recovered from Lutetian-Bartonian boundary in the Eocene. These fossil localities of which pachycetines have been recovered have come from the United States, Peru, Morocco, Egypt, and parts of Europe. They differ from other basilosaurids in having pachyosteosclerotic vertebrae and ribs, making them denser and heavier by comparison. This suggests these whales lived in shallow waters and these thicken bones act as a buoyancy control as seen in sirenians. They include the genera Antaecetus, Pachycetus, and Perucetus.[1][2]

References

  1. ↑ Gingerich PD, Amane A, Zouhri S (2022) Skull and partial skeleton of a new pachycetine genus (Cetacea, Basilosauridae) from the Aridal Formation, Bartonian middle Eocene, of southwestern Morocco. PLoS ONE 17(10): e0276110. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0276110
  2. ↑ Bianucci, G.; Lambert, O.; Urbina, M.; Merella, M.; Collareta, A.; Bennion, R.; Salas-Gismondi, R.; Benites-Palomino, A.; Post, K.; de Muizon, C.; Bosio, G.; Di Celma, C.; Malinverno, E.; Pierantoni, P.P.; Villa, I.M.; Amson, E. (2023). "A heavyweight early whale pushes the boundaries of vertebrate morphology". Nature. doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06381-1.


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